After the Fall
by Leoncia
Summary: In the dark, twisted depths of an evil soul lies a light unlike any other. This small speck of light is freedom, purity, hope, and love. Ryura's light was buried and forgotten about long ago. Can he find it once more and overcome his bloodthirsty desires? - Part 1: Shikon no Tama Arc
1. Chapter 1: When the Light Shines

Chapter 1:

When the Light Shines

"Circumstances in life often take us places that we never intended to go. We visit some places of beauty, others of pain and desolation."

-Kristin Armstrong

* * *

There was nothing to stimulate his senses. No light for him to see by, no touch for him to wake his nervous system, no sounds for his ears to pick up, no scents for his nose to take in – nothing. He was surrounded by the inky black darkness that made up the void he had turned into. The only thing about him that remained the same was his mind, and he was slowly begin to lose that. As he worked through hundreds of years of memories, he could always feel the nagging at the back of his mind; the feeling of something clawing and tearing at him in attempt to take over what little control he had left.

He was alone; he would always be alone, forever trapped within the void that was his and his alone. He was the void, and the void was him. The sins of his past, when he had been alive and held a corporeal form, had been too many in number and far too great for the Kami-sama to overlook. Those sins, while numbering so high... He could remember every one of them. And now he realized he had never truly understood the depths of those sins to atone for them while he had been amongst the living. His judgement had been swift in the form of death and his atonement would be to forever remain locked away within this void. This empty, black void.

It was the least he deserved, he bitterly told himself on more than one occasion.

His death had made him truly understand how much of a sadistic, twisted, and evil bastard he had been. He slaughtered entire villages without pause, without distinction between age and gender. On top of that, before his death he was trapped on an island, and to keep himself from fading from existence, he sacrificed hanyou children to sate his own greed for power.

The men he called his brothers, who were not really his brothers at all, had been in the same position as he before they met their own deaths. One after another they fell to the hands of those who wielded the light. The final fight had been their last attempt to survive, but it wasn't enough.

Now he could only wonder if his brothers were trapped within voids as well, going through their own imprisonment for crimes that, truthfully, they would have never committed had they never met him. Or were they given peace? Were they absolved of their crimes? He had no way of truly knowing, but he hoped beyond hoped they were given at least some sort of happiness in the afterlife.

It was only because of him, Ryura the Dragon, that his brothers had walked the path they had. He convinced every single one of them to take hold of the power that would have the world bending at their feet, to turn it into a world that would never harm them again. Kyora the Phoenix, Jura the Tiger, and Gora the Tortoise – each of them had been wounded by the world and in their own ways, hated that world for what they were unjustly put through; for what they had to do in order to survive. They had done anything and everything to keep themselves from dying, even going as far as listening to Ryura and his hairbrained ideas.

They had taken the four spheres of power into themselves. That one action, that singular seemingly insignificant action, had led to their fall, to their deaths.

Ryura had damned them all.

He hated not only the world, but everything it represented, and he wanted to _destroy_ it and bring about its end. He wanted to see the world suffer just as much as he had. He wanted to rip parents away from their children, to destroy a family, just so they would know his pain.

His first sin. His bloodthirsty, petty sin...

If this was to be his punishment, so be it.

Youkai were never meant to be idle creatures. They were violent at their core, and that violence was to be tempered over their long lives into steel that fed wars, words that fed politics, emotion that fed love, and knowledge that fed wisdom. Youkai were creatures of the earth – primal spirits in human form. They were nature's children. They were balance. They were chaos. They were law. The world could be seen through their eyes, and the universe through the eyes of their children. They lived unaging through the centuries until they felt their time was over, and then they would return their souls to nature, only to be reborn again by the Kami-sama themselves.

Daiyoukai were the apex of their race, no matter their breed. The most powerful, the Alphas, the rulers. He had been one too, so very long ago, and oh how far he had fallen.

He was to be strong, to be wise; understanding. Intelligent and patient. Cunning and fierce. He was to protect what was his. And he had failed.

Daiyoukai were few and far between, unlike the other levels of youkai. There were the mindless, ruthless, and blood hungry youkai. Then there were other youkai who could be considered on par with humans; they were the most common. Daiyoukai, however, were born and raised to be leaders, generals. They were meant to see to the development of their entire race. There was only one family who would produce Daiyoukai within each specific breed of youkai, and his family was the family who bred the Daiyoukai of the Air Dragons.

Yes, this was a fitting punishment indeed. He had been stripped of all that not only made him youkai, but made him Daiyoukai as well. He was simply...nothing, now.

Ryura remained as a void for what, to him, felt like centuries, yet with no real way to judge the passing of time he was never for sure. His mind eventually succumbed to insanity, and by this point it was most welcomed. He drove himself_ purposely_ insane by reliving the events that led him to the state he was in now. The face of every person, no matter their race, he had killed flashed through his mind.

Power. Wealth. Daiyoukai. Jewels and spheres. Blue, red, white, green. Dragon, phoenix, tiger, tortoise. Lightning, wind, fire, earth, cannons. Speed, strength, intelligence, wisdom. Daiyoukai, youkai, mononoke, hanyou. Kyora, Jura. Gora. Inu-hanyou, monks, youkai slayers, kitsune, Miko.

He had truly gone insane.

It lasted for what felt like eons before he was finally brought out of his insanity and lingered on the borders between it and sanity, of calm minds. He didn't even know it was possible until he grew tired of being crazy. He remained as the void and shortly after bringing himself back from the madness, he began to wonder if it had been such a wise idea to actually _end _that insanity. Now what was he going to do?

Ryura grumbled within the depths of his mind and decided he would do the one thing he refused to do before now. He relived his death, and the death of his brothers. He remembered, one at a time, the claw marks from the hanyou children's backs disappearing, letting him know how quickly his brothers were being picked off by an Inu-hanyou and his extended, odd pack consisting of a male monk, a female youkai slayer, a kitsune child, an oddly dressed human Miko, and a fire nekomata. Then there was Sesshoumaru, the Inu Daiyoukai of the Western Territories of Nippon who had joined in the fight as well; at least to remove Kyora from the equation.

Why in all the layers of Hell did he think a group like that _wouldn't _be able to defeat him and his brothers? Had he truly been that arrogant and naïve? He must have been, considering he was _dead._

Even though he and his brothers had been trapped on that island, Ryura was not ignorant on the events happening outside. He felt the shift of power when the Shikon no Tama re-entered the world, and he had felt it break into hundreds of tiny little pieces. Ever so slowly as time passed on, he kept a close check on the feeling of power radiating from the Shikon no Tama as it was pieced back together.

Ryura knew he was not the only one who could feel it, either. Every Daiyoukai would have been able to feel the power of the Shikon no Tama, even once it began to become corrupted. He could never pin point its exact location, but the dark thrum of energy called to him in such a way that he knew, had he been able, he would have sought it out for himself. More power for himself and his brothers. Why would he had denied it when he was alive?

But when he felt the presence of the small, almost tiny, piece of the Shikon no Tama that was pure heading for the island he had been trapped on, he should have taken a little more caution. The only person who would be able to keep the Shikon no Tama that pure was none other than the Shikon Miko herself, and she had been the oddly dressed Miko who accompanied the Inu-hanyou, Inuyasha, and his pack.

Not once but twice had he encountered the Shikon Miko, even if her soul had been reincarnated into the woman who stood up to him on Horai Island. The first time he encountered the Shikon Miko was fifty years prior. Inuyasha had been with her, too.

Was he the Guardian of the Shikon Miko? To Ryura that seemed to be the case. There was no other way to explain why Inuyasha had been guarding not one, but two incarnations of the Shikon Miko. The soul who had been cursed to guard over the Shikon no Tama until it could be wished from the world by the one perfect wish, and so far no one had figured out what that wish was, and so, the soul was constantly reborn. It would never stop, the soul would never be freed until the mind of the woman who the soul now inhabited could figure out that wish.

He knew of the power the Shikon Miko was supposed to possess, which is why he had attempted to kill Kikyou, he faintly remembered her name, in the past. Thankfully she had been more worried for the hanyou Inuyasha than she was killing Ryura. And again, thankfully, her reincarnation had been woefully untrained, else the arrow that struck his sword, Raijinga, would have not just stopped his attack, it would have completely obliterated his soul. While he disliked being a void, it was far better from ceasing to exist at all.

A hot, tingling sensation filled his mind as he thought of the current Shikon Miko. Confusion soon followed after, replacing the tingling with its nagging feeling, as he tried to wrap his mind around what was happening the sensation had returned. What was it? He had never felt such a thing before. It felt like his mind was on fire and he could do nothing to stop it.

He heard the howl of a fire's backlash and he quickly wondered if this was the end for him, if the Kami-sama had decided there was no hope for his soul and were coming to destroy it instead of letting him suffer as a void until they felt he was redeemed enough to be given another chance at life, to be reincarnated.

Panic filled him, then. He didn't want to disappear. He didn't want to truly cease to exist. He wanted to survive, to redeem his soul and find his brothers and help them redeem theirs. He wanted to make up for all the heinous crimes he had committed. He wanted to _live_.

A deep, rumbling chuckle filled the void that was Ryura, and the panic he felt increased tenfold. It was happening. They were coming to destroy his would. He had to find someway to fight back, to survive; he had to _stop it_.

"Calm yourself, young one." The voice, oddly familiar, was strong and sure, deep and comforting.

Ryura's vision was suddenly brought back to him as an ethereal golden glowing hand swiped over his face. The glowing power remained behind in swirls of golden smoke that traveled down his body, and ever so slowly, Ryura began to feel.

He felt the cool rush of fresh air entering his lungs. The organs expanded painfully, but the pain wasn't a bad one to experience. It was as if he had been drowning, and suddenly was saved. His lungs were starved and he sucked in the sweet, chilling air as if he were a man dying of thirstWithin his chest a dull thump that was his heart returning back to life beat away against his ribs. Quickly the beat sped up until it felt like his heart was going to explode and he clenched his clawed tipped fingers around the cloth that covered his chest.

He had a body.

The same chuckle, this time slightly louder, reached his ears, and Ryura used what little light was in the space he floated in to look around, trying to find the being that seemed oh so familiar to him. The power, the voice... It was too uncannily familiar. A name was just on the tip of his tongue. A blurry face rested at the back of his mind, yet still Ryura could not recall.

"Ryura the Dragon."

His head snapped in the direction the voice originated from. He could see the faint outline of a broad shouldered man off in the distance, but he was too far away to make out any real features of the being. He tried to call out to the being, but found his voice too dry to make a noise. He could grunt, but as he tried to speak again, his voice came out in cracked, almost broken sounding, croaks and gurgles.

"That will pass," the being said. "I was much in the same position as you when I returned from the void."

Returned from the void? What was the being talking about?

The nagging sensation returned, telling him that if he looked just a little bit deeper in his memories, he would know immediately who this being was. Ryura pushed further into his memories, even broke the barrier on memories he had locked away so very long ago. He searched and searched until his blood red ruby colored eyes widened dramatically.

Ryura couldn't believe it, this was impossible. There was no way _he _should be in the void. He was too kind, too caring, too _fierce _to exist in such a place. This was a place of punishment, of suffering and damnation. That man did not belong here.

"Lor-Lord Tou...Touga," Ryura managed to finally say. That name, that single name, was the first words Ryura had spoken in centuries.

"I must say I am pleased you remember me, Ryura the Dragon. It has been such a long time since we last saw one another. You were roughly twenty summers old when I last laid eyes on you, if I remember correctly," Touga rumbled.

Ryura swallowed hard past the lump in his throat. "In...Inu... no... Tai... Taisho."

As Touga's true title left his mouth a blinding white light filled the darkness. Ryura squinted and slapped a hand over his eyes, hissing at the pain. So long had his eyes gone without light that now they were so sensitive the light literally burned them. It took his eyes a long while to adjust until he could finally uncover them. His pupils narrowed into vertical slits now, he could lay his gaze on Touga, the Inu no Taisho. Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha's father.

The Great Dog General was sitting across from him, hovering in the vast, endless white. His face was the same as Ryura remembered it, except his eyes held a light of sadness in them. The smile he wore was small, and his brows were slightly furrowed together to give the Inu Daiyoukai an almost pained expression.

"What were you thinking?" Touga asked him softly. "Or were you not thinking at all?"

Ryura licked his lips, trying to rid them of the dryness he felt, before attempting to answer. "I... I do not..." he paused to clear his throat. "I do not... know."

"I thought as much," Touga said with a small nod of his head. He looked away from Ryura then, staring at nothing. "You have much to correct, son of my friend, yet this is not the way to go about it."

"What?" Ryura asked hoarsely.

Touga's eyes drifted back over to the Dragon and the smile left his face. "We, the Kami, have come to a decision."

"We...?" Damnit, couldn't he say anything more than one liners without his throat feeling like it was on fire?

"Yes, we. I have ascended, Ryura. I am now one of the Kami." He said this as if he was discussing the weather, "It was decided after my death that youkai who keep the balance of the earth that the Kami so love, should be welcomed amongst the ranks of the Gods."

Touga rose to stand and gestured for Ryura to do the same. He gave Ryura no time to properly respond to hearing the news of his ascension.

Ryura's legs tingled and prickled in an uncomfortable manner and he couldn't find the strength to stand. To go along with the uncomfortable feeling his legs, it seemed they had also decided to turn into rubber while he wasn't paying attention. As he panted with the exertion of trying to stand, he could only glare at Touga once the Daiyoukai turned Kami began to laugh loudly.

"Forgive me. Seeing you act as if you are a new born colt was too much to resist," Touga said once his laughter died down into small chuckles.

To make up for laughing at the man, Touga used his long legs to step closer to Ryura with an arm outstretched. Ryura glared at the proffered hand. He sighed shortly after, the glare leaving him, and he reached up to clasp hands with the Kami. Being pulled to his feet, Ryura gave a nod of thanks as he stood on wobbly legs.

Touga moved his hand further up until it was resting in the crook of Ryura's elbow, only to have the Dragon Daiyoukai repeat the same motions. It was the stance of two Daiyoukai who were about to enter an agreement with one another. Where their clawed hands rested it would be easy for either one of them to cut through an artery, and as such, the stance showed trust. It didn't matter if both of them could not be killed, seeing as one was a Kami and the other was already dead, the trust behind it remained the same.

"Ryura the Dragon," Touga began as gold met red. Eyes locked on the others, Touga continued. "Daiyoukai and Patriarch of the House of Storms, once Lord over the Eastern Territories of Nippon. You are hereby released from your imprisonment, and you will be returned to Earth. This decision has been made to give you a chance to redeem yourself and your very soul. Should you fail, this one and only chance will be swiftly stripped from you. If you fail, you will never live again. We will be your judges. Live your life and live it well. You will not be given another opportunity to prove yourself."

Ryura's eyes had widened and he was staring at Touga as if he didn't believe him. He knew Touga didn't lie, it was below him and dishonorable, but the information was still a lot for Ryura to take in. He did the only thing he could, since his voice had failed him. He bowed his head, keeping his hand clenched tightly around Touga's elbow. His body was shaking with unspoken emotion, and he knew he would never, ever be able to thank Touga, or the other Kami, enough for this chance.

With his head bowed and his eyes closed tightly he missed Touga's stern look fade into a soft smile as the Daiyoukai turned Kami disappeared. The white light around Ryura exploded in a corona of colors bursting forth from seemingly nothing to bleed together and form shapes and shadows, leaving nothing behind of the void that Ryura had been in for so long.

It wasn't until he felt himself falling that Ryura realized what was happening. His head snapped up, arms shot out to both sides, and his body tensed for an eventual impact. His clawed hands tried to grab for something, anything, to stop his descent but all he found was empty air. Red eyes frantically searched back and forth, flickering in every direction, looking for something. He could feel the wind rush past him, stinging against his face in a way he thought he would never feel again.

The pain brought him out of his panic and with a small smile gracing his face, Ryura let himself fall.

* * *

A.N.: A little different, eh? I'd like to note that this story will roughly follow along the storyline of Inuyasha with a few things switched around for my own sake.


	2. Chapter 2: Arashi

Chapter 2:

Arashi

"We all face storms in life. Some are more difficult than others, but we all go through trials and tribulation. That's why we have the gift of faith."

-Joyce Meyer

* * *

He was free. He was falling. He was _alive._ It was a miracle.

As he fell Ryura's mind was overwhelmed with emotions. In the swell of his emotions, fear stood at the head. It was a fear so great it was threatening to drown him, to suffocate him, to kill him, to bury him alive. It was a fear of the unknown.

How long would it take for him to walk his former path? How many days, minutes, or even seconds would it take for him to revert to how he was before? He had lived a life of chaos and destruction for so long he barely remembered anything else. It was hard for him to remember life before his world was destroyed, but meeting Touga was at least a little bit helpful. The Daiyoukai turned Kami had awakened long forgotten memories and emotions, and yanked them back to the surface.

The warmth of his mother's embrace. The soothing, quiet voice she would hum in when putting him to bed. He had been so terribly young when she was ripped away from him, and he remembered her smile the most. The smile she would give to his father whenever she saw him. His father...

Ryura began to remember the man for the first time in centuries. His father was proud and strong, a Daiyoukai of his own standing, much like Touga. He ruled over the Eastern Territories of Nippon while Touga had control over the Western portions. The two families, the House of the Moon and the House of Storms, had been close friends and allies for many generations. Touga and Ryura's father had been no different.

He and Sesshoumaru were born roughly two years apart, with Sesshoumaru being born first. He began to remember growing up with the small Inu-youkai that would eventually grow up to surely become a being even more powerful than his sire before him. He remembered the fights they would get into, and how his father and Touga would have to pull them apart. They didn't hate each other, but they were children, and children fought. Especially male children at that young of age.

The mirror of his mind that replayed his long locked away memories shattered as Ryura finally stopped falling. Feet first he landed into a thankfully deep body of water. The force he hit the surface of the water with sent tsunami-like waves crashing in every direction around him, and Merciful Kami above did it _hurt_. He felt an aggravated growl ripped from his chest and as quickly as it came, it was gone, replaced by rushing water.

He fought against the current made from his landing, and he barely had time to expel the water from his lungs and inhale deeply before he was pulled back under. His body twisted and turned, being thrown around like a rag doll, and he found he was powerless to stop it.

Did he literally fall from the heavens? Had Touga just kicked him out of where ever he was and leave him to his own devices?

Ryura pushed that from his mind and focused on getting out of the raging water as fast as he could before he drowned. He was an Air Dragon Daiyoukai of the House of Storms, a man who could control the elements of wind and lightning, _not _water. That was a whole different type of Dragon. But...

Dozen of feet into the water, the ocean judging by its salty taste, Ryura suddenly grinned. He couldn't control the water, no, but the wind could, if it were powerful enough. He worked then on gaining his bearings, trying to feel which way was up and which way was down. As disorienting as it was, he finally figured it out by letting the water take over his body for only a short moment in time. He felt himself floating one direction and immediately he knew which way the sky would be.

Holding his arms out to the side, Ryura commanded his body to still itself, and when it did he floated in the water, a solid, singular figure that betrayed the fury of the water around him. His held tilted back, eyes falling shut as he floated in a star position. Within him he could feel the faint traces of his youki, still weak from his recent revival, and he silently hoped it would be enough. He only had so much time remaining and it was taking everything in him to fight against the raging current to keep himself still enough for what he needed to do.

Inwardly he told himself he would never be able to beat the current by swimming and make it out of this alive; even Daiyoukai could drown. By the feel of the water around him, it wasn't only his impact that stirred the waters into the frenzy they were currently in, but possibly a large storm was overhead, feeding the anger of the water around him.

With a strength only a Daiyoukai could possess, Ryura flung his arms forward until his palms met with a thundering clap. Around him the water shuddered, bending and giving way from the force of Ryura's actions. He rotated his palms together until the fingers of one were pointing east and the fingers of the other hand pointing west. His hands parted then and forcefully made their way through the water yet again, each heading in the direction they were pointing.

Ryura jerked his arms inward until his elbows rested against his ribs. Again he rotated his wrists until his hands were pointing north and south and with one final grunt, Ryura thrust his arms high above his head, using the last of his air to yell, "Storm of the Dragon God!"

His cry was muffled by the water, but the words still seemed to deliver the intended results. Bright white energy began to leak from his body, escaping into the water towards the sky as if it were droplets of blood. He felt his youki, the white energy, pierce the surface, and before he could enjoy the feeling, his youki began to rip and tear at the water above him.

A miniature hurricane was being formed with the eye, the calm center of the hurricane, laying right over him. Further and further the eye of the storm descended upon him until his head was free of the cursed water. He quickly filled his lungs, coughing to expell any left over water. When his body was free he allowed the wind generated from his hurricane to lift him up and toss him high into the sky.

His feet found the air currents and he mentally took a hold of the wind and used it to keep himself aloft as he went repeating the motions from before, but in reverse to calm the steadily growing hurricane. He had no intentions of falling back into the water, not now that he had his mind about him. Before he couldn't feel his energy, his natural youki, but it slowly had returned to him the longer he was living once more.

A crack of lightning followed by the booming sounds of thunder let him know he was correct in his earlier assumption about the storm. He turned his eyes to the black clouds above him and shuddered. It was a good thing he calmed down his part of the storm, else Nippon would be in for one hell of a storm besides a "simple" typhoon.

With the strength of the storm, Ryura could guess it was late summer. Only at the end of warm seasons were storms this strong birthed on the oceans. He let out a hummed 'hn' and folded his arms over his chest, having no fear of the lightning coming alive around him. If anything it seemed like the lightning was avoiding him, its jagged forms coming dangerously close to his form, only to streak suddenly in a completely opposite direction.

It was hard to pinpoint his location, even given his sharper eyesight. All he could see, surrounding him for hundreds of miles, were raging ocean waters, a darkened sky and a fierce storm. The wind felt like it was angrily flowing around him in all directions, distorting the way he would normally tell one direction from the other. Ryura's red eyes turned to the dark sky above him again as a thought struck him, leaving a ghost of a grin on his lips. He took off higher into the sky, the braid his blue hair was in violently whipping about his body, followed closely by the billowing white of his clothing. Only his armor remained stationary, which Ryura was grateful for. It would do him no good to suddenly be knocked out by a flying part of his armor.

He pushed his way easily through the black and grey clouds until he saw nothing but clear sky with the roaring storm resting at his feet. By the looks of it, twilight had just passed and night was quickly falling. In the west the fiery colors of the sun were beginning to disappear, leaving in its wake the inky blue-blackness of the night sky, littered with brightly glowing dots of light from stars and the waning crescent shape of the moon.

The moon...

He should probably go see Sesshoumaru, once he figured out where he was. The Daiyoukai Lord would possibly attempt to kill him, but he at least wanted to let Sesshoumaru know of Touga, even if it inflated the man's ego to a new height.

With a shake of his head, Ryura chuckled and gave into his instincts. He would follow them, and surely they would lead him to Nippon, the land of his birth.


	3. Chapter 3: Eyes Opening

Chapter 3:

Eyes Opening

"One thing: you have to walk, and create the way by your walking; you will not find a ready-made path. It is not so cheap, to reach to the ultimate realization of truth. You will have to create the path by walking yourself; the path is not ready-made, lying there and waiting for you. It is just like the sky: the birds fly, but they don't leave any footprints. You cannot follow them; there are no footprints left behind."

-Osho

* * *

Ryura skated along the air currents as he enjoyed the simple feeling of being alive. He wasn't aware of how long he had been traveling but in reality, he didn't mind it much. He was happy being able to breathe again. To smell the scent of the air, the tangy salt of the ocean assaulting his nose in a way that would have, in the past, been annoying with the burn it left behind in his nostrils and sinuses. The wind sending his hair and clothing flying only served to further his happiness. Never again would he take these small things for granted. He would enjoy every second of every day no matter where his path led him, until the Kami decided his fate – until it was said if he could live out the rest of his long life, or if his soul was to be obliterated and never exist in this world again.

It was ultimately up to him whether he lived or died, he was intimately aware of that. It was his choice, his life, his future. He was slightly afraid he would fall back into old ways, killing for pleasure no matter who the victim was.

But now with the memories of his family unlocked from the depths of darkness he put them in, did he really want to further dishonor his family? Did he truly wish to disappoint his father and no doubt make his mother cry because of their wayward son – their only child?

Ryura paused in his flight and stared down at the ocean below him, bangs falling to shield his eyes. That struck a nerve in him. He was the last of his line, and while he should have been furthering and protecting his House's legacy, he had been wasting his life away leading the Four War Gods and killing hanyou children because he relied on a damnable bauble of a power sphere to empower him. His clawed hands balled into fists, the tips of the deadly points digging into his palms and cutting them open. He felt the warmth of his Dragon blood coat his skin and drip down to eventually join with the water of the ocean.

No, he wouldn't further disappoint or dishonor his family, not if he could help it. He kept this thought in mind as he continued his travels. He was so close to Nippon now; he could feel it in his chest. Soon his true test would begin, the test that gambled with his life.

His thoughts slowly brought up the four power spheres he and his brothers used to empower themselves. Ryura should have known better. He was born from two powerful Daiyoukai lines. He should have been patient, should have trained and gained his own power. Never should he had used an artifact to make his power for him. It was disgraceful.

He sighed as he realized what a daunting task was ahead of him. While he was far from weak, he was no where near powerful enough to keep up with the other Houses. Sesshoumaru was living proof. While there was a jewel – The Shikon no Tama – floating around that could give Sesshoumaru the strength to conquer the world, he was most likely fighting to see to its removal. Ryura knew that Sesshoumaru wouldn't fall into the call of fake power, not as Ryura had.

Ryura's face soured as he frowned. First thing he needed to stop comparing himself to Sesshoumaru. The ass acted like he didn't know him during the fight on the island. Sesshoumaru just came in, fought against Kyora and acted like Ryura didn't exist. Well, Ryura couldn't exactly blame Sesshoumaru for that. It would have been disgraceful, at the time, for Sesshoumaru to admit that Ryura was sort of a childhood friend, not with the way Ryura had been acting. And if Sesshoumaru was nothing, he was a stickler for keeping up appearances.

His nose twitched randomly, and Ryura looked up as he caught the scent of wood and sand. Ahead of him, off in the distance, was the land of Nippon, staring him in the face with the sun slowly beginning to rise against it, providing a brilliant backdrop. Ryura couldn't help the large smile that came over his face, but he didn't try to stop it. It had been such a long time since he saw Nippon, even before his death. He and his brothers had been trapped on that damned island for far too long.

Ryura sped up his pace, even though he knew he was going to regret it later. He was running on fumes now – he had been flying all night – and it wouldn't be long before his body gave out and he crashed into the ocean _again_. He needed to make it to land before that happened, so he readily spent the rest of his energy to speed up his time.

When he made it, his boot covered feet landed on sand, slowly sinking into the depths of the white-brown substance. He fell to his knees, panting the entire time, and quickly the rest of his body followed. Laying with the front of his body on the sand, his face pushed into it, he gave one last smile before his eyes rolled back in his head and he entered the world of unconsciousness.

Half way across Nippon, Inuyasha and his pack were preparing themselves for another day of traveling. Kagome was rolling up her sleeping bag, Shippou at her side and helping her with the odd material, both speaking softly to the other. Sango was at the fire, preparing everyone's morning tea; except Inuyasha's. He said he hated the stuff, so he was getting Ramen instead considering it only took hot water to make just as the tea did. Miroku was directly opposite of Sango, his eyes closed as he went about meditating like he would most mornings. Inuyasha kept himself busy by sitting high in a tree, ears twitching and nose sniffing, as he searched for any sign of danger, or Naraku.

Finding nothing, Inuyasha gave a haggard sigh and jumped from his perch. It had been well over two weeks since they last saw Naraku, and it was really starting to get on his nerves. The spider-hanyou never went more than a few days without sending something at Inuyasha's pack, be it a puppet, one of his incarnations, or the saimyoshou – his annoying spies that were poisonous wasps.

Their last encounter with the damned spider-hanyou was when he attempted to corrupt Kagome by trying to get her to kill Hitomiko in exchange for her release. His plan failed, but only because Kagome was able to summon the true power of the Sacred Longbow of Mount Azusa. She had fired an arrow, which apparently vanished completely from sight, only to reappear behind Hitomiko and behind _Naraku's _barrier. At the same time it was revealed to Kagome that her powers had been sealed away quite some time ago, and to defeat Naraku and purify the Shikon no Tama, the seal needed to be released.

Inuyasha huffed and stuffed his hands into the sleeves of his red fire-rat haori. Whatever the case was, Naraku was out there somewhere, and they needed to find him before he destroyed yet another person's life.

"Oi, we gotta get moving!" He said gruffly as he stomped his way into the camp, hands still stuffed into his haori sleeves.

Inuyasha didn't flinch when Sango looked up and leveled him with a glare, but he did flinch when Kagome loomed off to the side, sending just as heated of a glare Sango had. The difference between the two women was that one could forcefully make him eat dirt with nothing but a word. A single goddamn word!

"Inuyasha..." Kagome growled, which made Inuyasha's puppy-like ears immediately fold in and press close to his head. "We just woke up! Give us a little bit more time,_ please_." She stressed the word please, as if beginning him not to start a fight, because she had no problem with sitting him so early in the morning if she had to.

Inuyasha grumbled and pivoted on the balls of his feet, his back now facing the borderline angry Shikon Miko, along with the rest of the camp. "Feh, fine. Whatever; it's not like we had anythin' to do anyway," he said sourly.

Kagome gave the Inu-hanyou's back an exasperated smile after mumbling a soft thank you. She knew trying to track down Naraku was getting on his nerves, and while she did feel sorry for him, she didn't feel sorry enough for him to allow him to push her and her friends to the point beyond exhaustion.

A tugging on her skirt made Kagome look down. Shippou stood beside her with a slightly worried look on his face. Kagome frowned and crouched down, tucking her skirt against her legs. She didn't want Miroku to get a free show, after all. Even if he was deep in meditation, the perverted monk had a way of knowing when he could get a peep at something he shouldn't.

"What is it, Shippou?" she asked softly while reaching forward for the young Kitsune's hand. When his much smaller hand was in her own, she noticed he was shaking. "Shippou?"

"That, Kagome..." he trailed off as his eyes looked fearfully at the wrapped, long rectangle box laying next to Kagome's monstrous yellow backpack. It was rattling, almost jumping with some sort of urgency.

Kagome gave Shippou a nod and patted his head softly. "I'll look at it. Thanks, Shippou," she said with a smile. The smile seemed to infected Shippou, easing his worries and calming him down.

Inuyasha had turned around now, watching with curiosity. And for once, he didn't mind it when Shippou ran over to him and hopped onto his shoulder; he knew the kit was just seeking comfort. While he might have thought Shippou was a whiny brat, he really didn't care for the little guy as if he were a younger brother.

His golden eyes tracked Kagome's movements while she walked over to the box and knelt in front of it. She ran her hand slowly along the surface of the blue silk wrapped around it, and for some reason unknown to Inuyasha she still had that damned smile on her face. The girl had to really be stupid, considering what was _inside _the box. It wasn't nothing to be smiling about!

But, there wasn't anything he could do about it. Instead he watched Kagome further as she carefully unwound the silk from the box and set it on her backpack. Her small hands fumbled with the latch until the box opened to reveal its contents.

Laying on plush black cushions meant for holding delicate objects were two fierce and deadly swords. Each were formidable in their own rights, but together they were almost unstoppable; Inuyasha knew because he had experience fighting against the true masters of both swords. Ryura the Dragon, General of the Four War Gods.

When Kagome had found the swords a few months ago, Inuyasha had been furious and attempted to get rid of them. It did him very little, for the swords returned to Kagome's side only a few days later while she was bathing alone. He kept trying to get rid of them after that, but time and time again they would return to the young Miko's side. Inuyasha was down right enraged to the point he tried to destroy the swords with a blast of youki from Tessaiga, which proved to be futile.

Now the barriers had erected a barrier around themselves and only Kagome was allowed to touch them, else risk having their hand either electrified to a crisp or cut at sharply with an oddly powerful gust of wind.

Since they had to take the swords with them, and Kagome was the only one who could carry them, Sango and Inuyasha had to switch riding buddies when they decided to visit Totosai and ask him about the damned things.

The swords had apparently decided they really, really hated Inuyasha, and whenever he would attempt to carry Kagome on his back, with the swords on _her _back, their weight would suddenly increase, and Kagome would tumble right off. If it hadn't been for Sango, Kagome would have fallen to her death on more than one occasion.

As it turned out, the swords hated all males near Kagome except Shippou. Miroku had once touched her shoulder and the sword Raijinga snapped at him with a small jolt of lightning. In the end, Sango and Kagome had to ride on Kirara while Miroku and Inuyasha were forced into the uncomfortable position of the hanyou carrying the monk on his back.

It was quite the sight for Totosai when they arrived until both males punched him over the head. He almost didn't help Inuyasha's pack with the swords because of how the males were acting. At least, until Kagome pulled sad, puppy eyes on him. He finally broke and 'spoke' with the swords, finding out that indeed they did hate Inuyasha, disliked Miroku, and at the same time, they had chosen Kagome as a temporary master until a new one could be found who suited their tastes.

Totosai had gifted Kagome with the box and silk afterwards, saying they were enchanted with a weight reduction spell that would give Kagome an easier time of toting the swords around.

"Fujinga, Raijinga..." Kagome said, breaking Inuyasha from his thoughts. "What's wrong, you two? You haven't made a peep for a good while now."

The swords began to rattle, the metal of their forms clanging loudly enough to snap Miroku out of his meditation. He looked at Sango with a raised eyebrow in silent question, and the youkai slayer could only shrug in response. She didn't know what was going on, either.

Settling her hands on the hilts of the swords, Kagome frowned softly, frustration rising each passing second. Frustration quickly turned to surprise, however, when the swords stopped rattling at her touch. She ran her eyes along the length of the swords and silently marveled at their beauty for what was possibly around the two hundredth time since she found them.

They greatly resembled Chinese Niuweidao, but were much bigger and longer with far more care given to their detail when they were forged. Raijinga's, or Thunder Blade's, hilt held a golden lightning bolt and was wrapped in a brown leather with a large ruby set in the middle of the sword's guard. The same golden color swirled around the sword, all the way up the guard and to the tip of the blade itself, forming intricate patterns that were beautifully laid in the blade's metal.

Fujinga, or Wind Blade, was styled much like Raijinga was. Its designs were a near copy of Raijinga, except where Raijinga was gold, Fujinga was platinum; silver with a blue tint. Instead of a lightning bolt, Fujinga held a storm cloud. It too held a ruby on its guard.

Time went by with Kagome keeping her hands on the swords' hilts, and when she received no response, she sighed and closed the box, wrapping the silk back around it carefully. The swords used to scare the living daylights out of her, considering who they used to belong to. Ryura the Dragon, the leader of the Four War Gods she and her friends fought on Horai Island. Kagome had sen what the swords were capable of, and that alone scared her. As time passed, however, they had sort of grown on her. They had an uncanny way of releasing a little bit of energy whenever she was stressed, and the energy would calm her instantly. It almost made her regret trying to get rid of them.

She tried to find their new master, but the search ended with Sesshoumaru. When he had been unable to touch the swords, Kagome knew then that she would be keeping the swords for a long, long time. The Daiyoukai was possibly the strongest person Kagome had ever met – not that she would ever mention that aloud when Inuyasha was within hearing range – and if he couldn't grab them, no one could. Sesshoumaru had offered to help her learn to wield them, but she only laughed at the idea and kindly refused.

She was an archer, not a swordsman. She wasn't a Warrior Miko, that had been Midoriko's area of expertise.

Kagome had given up the search and together with the others, resumed hunting down Naraku. Thankfully toting the box around wasn't difficult. She dumped all of her school books at home in her era, and now she carried the box around in her backpack, regardless if the backpack only covered the box halfway.

The Shikon Miko smiled and stood, turning to face the curious onlookers behind her. She laughed nervously and waved her hands, "Nothing, it was nothing! Everything's fine now."

For some reason, no one believed that, not even Kagome herself. The camp was quiet as everyone prepared to head out after finishing their tea and after Inuyasha snarfed down his Ramen, and each of them had the feeling there would be an eye opening revelation soon.


	4. Chapter 4: Aurora

Chapter 4:

Aurora

"Sunrise offered a very beautiful spectacle; the water was quite unruffled, but the motion communicated by the tides was so great that, although there was not a breath of air stirring, the sea heaved slowly with a grand and majestic motion."

-George Grey

* * *

Ryura woke with a start, his body surging with the feel of an extremely familiar power off towards the west. Groggily he lifted his head and shook it of the sand clinging to his face and hair. He was up on his knees shortly after, his hands brushing off the sand that invaded every crevice of his armor. This wasn't going to be easy. He needed to find fresh water to wash his armor in, lest it begin to rust from the salt water he'd been swimming in before. Not only for his armor, but for himself too. He felt crusty in places that had no right to be crusty.

Now he remembered why he hated swimming in the ocean.

With a huff that sent his blue bangs flying into the air, Ryura turned and plopped himself down on the sand, eyes staring out towards the water. All aggravating thoughts of sand, armor, crusty places, and salt water left him at the sight in front of him.

The sun was cresting over the horizon, painting the skies with colors of pink, peach, orange and red. He realized then not only had he slept for literally an entire day, he was also home, sitting in the lands of Eastern Nippon. The lands of his birth, the lands his House ruled over for centuries was directly below him. A wave of nostalgia rose up within him as he remembered his father taking him aside when he was a but a child and saying in a very poetic way that if he was ever lost, all he would need to do is look for the rising sun, and then he would know the way home. His father grinned like a sheepish child then and said if Ryura was ever truly lost, that he would do his best to find his "wayward dragon prince."

He was lost, but only this time his father wouldn't be there to bring him home again.

Ryura watched the sun rise until the brightly glowing globe was just about to appear as a full circle in the sky, then rose to his feet and turned. He walked into the forest ahead of him, a small smile on his face the entire time, and he began searching for a body of fresh water. His nose aided him greatly in the search and it was just under half an hour when he came across a large lake.

The lake was in pristine condition with pure, fresh water reflecting the landscape around it back at him like a mirror. He could easily see his reflection as well, and with a sour note, noticed that sand still clung to his blue hair.

Ryura didn't even bother stripping of his armor and clothing. He just walked right into the lake as if he owned it. The water was cold, but refreshing at the same time and the Dragon maneuvered his way further into the water until it reached his chest, where he went about taking off his armor a piece at a time and cleaning it with vigor. Whenever he finished with a piece, he would flare his youki around it, drying off the now gleaming metal instantly without much effort. The pieces soon began to pile on the grassy shore until Ryura was left in nothing but his clothing.

The same process was repeated with his clothing which then joined the pile of his armor. Now all that was left was himself. Frankly that was the easy part. Even washing his god-awful long hair once it was unbraided didn't take as much time as washing his armor of every bit of salt water and sand it was covered in.

Once everything he owned was cleaned, Ryura relaxed in the water, floating along the surface on his back with his eyes closed. He enjoyed the feeling of the sun soaking into his skin, the warmth it provided him in stark contrast with the cool water he was laying in. His unbound hair tickled his arms and back, but that was the least worry from his mind at the moment.

Where were his swords? He had been brought back with everything he died with, except for his swords. It pained him to think they were in the hands of someone else, or lost for good – neither was a pleasing option. Both swords had been given to him by his father on his nineteenth name-day. They were a sign that his father was officially recognizing Ryura as the heir to both the Lands of the East and the House of Storms. Ryura had betrayed that trust. Yet another sin to pile atop the already growing mound.

Then there was the issue of the sharp jolt of energy that woke him from his slumber. He was familiar with the feeling, but something was off. It was as if he should know exactly what that energy was from, but it didn't exactly feel right. It wasn't a person, or a youkai, no. It was the power of an object, and he could only pray it wasn't his power sphere trying to pull him back into its tempting power. He had no desire to look at that thing ever again. He enjoyed seeing his reflection in the water when he first arrived, only because he was lacking the blue diamond centered on his forehead that held the blue power sphere. His forehead was smooth and void of any damnable bauble, and he couldn't be more grateful

He frowned and swam back to the shore. His mind was too frazzled to enjoy the relaxation completely, and he didn't want to ruin what peace he did find, however little it was.

Ryura was stopped in his tracks by a pulse of youki coming from under the water. Something was hiding in its depths – something strong enough to hide its aura and youki, else he would have felt it.

"Just my fucking luck," he cursed loudly. He was without his swords; hell he was without his armor or clothing.

He quickly rushed for the shore then and reached for his pants. Ryura was determined to at least wear pants when he fought, as he wasn't fond of the idea of fighting stark naked. He was quick enough to tie the string of his pants before he was bombarded by a pure youki attack. He felt the energy burn along his skin like acid and he hissed through clenched teeth.

The water before Ryura bubbled and gurgled suddenly as whatever youkai it was began to ascend from the depths. It burst through the mirror-like water, shattering the serenity that could be found by the lake. Roaring with fury at having its home invaded, the youkai rose to its full length while its massive scaled arms reached out to its sides. It was a display of dominance.

The youkai was a Dragon. A water Dragon. Not only that, it was another Daiyoukai.

Ryura cursed again and fell into a fighting stance. His bare left foot slid forward, the grass beneath offering no resistance, and at the same time he planted his right firmly below him as his arms raised until his forearms were even with his chest. He left his hands open as he would need his claws to fight another Dragon. His fists just wouldn't cut it, literally.

The water Dragon roared in Ryura face, leaning down until its snout was mere feet away from him. Ryura didn't pass up the opportunity, he quickly sprung forward and within the span of a heart beat was in the water Dragon's face, spinning until his feet were in the air as he used his momentum to rake his claws across the scaled covered snout. His claws caught an edge of one of the water Dragon's nostrils, making the Dragon growl loudly.

"How dare you sssssully what isss mine!" The Dragon roared. "Thisss isss my home, and you will die for your offensssesss towardsss me!"

Ryura let out a snort as he twisted in the air and landed on the water Dragon's snout, directly between its eyes. The blue eyes of the Dragon crossed to focus on him and watched as Ryura flexed his fingers quickly, joints cracking from the effort.

"I have an idea, if I don't kill you perhaps you should think about letting some of your youki out, so others will know what is yours!" Ryura roared at the water Dragon as he raised his arm and brought it harshly down along the Dragons right eye. Thankfully for the water Dragon, it had closed its eyes at the right moment, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt.

It let out a roar of its own, out of pain and anger, before quickly snapping its head to the left in an attempt to fling Ryura off, but the Daiyoukai's grip was firm. The quick movement only caused Ryura's claws to sink further in between the scales covering its eyelid. The water Dragon howled and reared up to its full height once more, taking Ryura with it.

"Son of a..." Ryura muttered as he was taken higher and higher into the air. He really needed to stop getting himself in situations where he could potentially be tossed into water.

Ryura used his free hand to claw at the lower lid of the water Dragon's eye, causing it even more pain. His claws were sharp enough they could, with some effort, cut right through the hard, diamond-like surface of a Dragon's scale.

"I am Ryura the Dragon, Daiyoukai and Patriarch of the House of Storms, rightful Lord of the Lands of the Eastern Territories of Nippon!" Ryura yelled as the water Dragon finished rising. "Submit and I just may spare your life!" Really, Ryura didn't want to kill a water Dragon. They were rare to begin with, and even if it was in self-defense, Ryura didn't want to be the cause of their population lowering even further.

The water Dragon's movements instantly stilled and it opened its uninjured eye. A blue iris with slit pupils slid to look at him, and Ryura stared defiantly back. The two stared at each other for a few long moments before the water Dragon let out a rumble strong enough to shake Ryura slightly.

"You are Lord Ssshoichi's heir." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

Ryura's breath hitched at hearing his father's name. He quickly nodded. "Yes. Shoichi was my sire and my dame was Kasumi."

The water Dragon rumbled again. "A name I have not heard for many centuriesss."

With that said the water Dragon lowered itself until its snout was close to the shore where Ryura's belongings still lay. With a final look that meant the water Dragon's death should he try attacking him, Ryura slid his claws out of the Dragon's eyelid, making it growl with pain softly, and lept backwards to land next to his armor and clothing.

The water Dragon let out a burst of neon blue youki to engulf its large frame until nothing of its body could be seen. It didn't take long for the bright youki flame to begin shrinking until nothing was left but a man in a dark blue kimono standing just shin-deep in the water.

The youkai's long hair of its human form as much the same color as its scales, a shining white with blue accents. He bore no markings on his face, but instead faint scales traveled up the sides of his jaw and face to disappear into his hair line. His right eye was closed and rapidly healing claw-like wounds were covering his eye lid. His uninjured eye, however, was staring directly at Ryura.

"It is good to see you return to us, Lord Ryura," the water Dragon rumbled as it bowed its head in respect. "I am Tsuyoshi."

"Tsuyoshi," Ryura mumbled. Why did that name seem familiar?

"Indeed. I was your sire's General, my Lord."

Ryura's eyes snapped to look at the youkai still standing in the water. "If you were his general, why are you residing in a lake?"

Tsuyoshi looked away, uncomfortable with what he was about to say. His white-blue brows were furrowed as he began to speak. "With the fall of your House, the lands fell into chaos because of Ryuukotsusei. We were attacked from all but those in the West. Lord Touga attempted to help, but a war brought on by foreign youkai, moth they turned out to be, from China attacking his lands ultimately decided our fate. He could offer no help, else lose everything he held dear."

He paid attention as Tsuyoshi explained more, "The lands never recovered. No new Lord was named, and with the recent events of Naraku, there is more chaos than ever before."

"What? Why is that?" Ryura asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

Tsuyoshi looked back to the Dragon Lord and murmured loud enough for him to hear, "That is due to Naraku's recent ploys. He has made his home in the East, my Lord."

A snarl ripped from Ryura chest, "_Who?_"

"Ah, forgive me. You have been away from Nippon for quite some time," Tsuyoshi said with an apologetic smile. He then gestured for Ryura to sit, "This will be quite the tale, my Lord. It is complex and actually very interesting, considering the circumstances. If it were not for my frequent letters sent back and forth between Lord Sesshoumaru and myself, I would have never known this."

Ryura grumbled softly and plopped down onto the ground. He rested an elbow on his knee and put his chin his hand. When Ryura was comfortable, Tsuyoshi stepped a few feet away as his left hand took on a fog-like glow.

He raised that hand into the air and began to draw a map of Nippon. The air froze at his touch and the picture he was drawing stayed aloft by his own youki. As he began to finish the map, he drew small dots here and there on the land of Nippon, and small X symbols on other lands.

"Naraku is a hanyou, spider to be exact," Tsuyoshi said as he drew more in the air. This time he drew out the kanji of names.

"Hell? What type of person names their child Naraku?" Ryura asked when he saw the kanji for Naraku's name.

"It is a name he took for himself," Tsuyoshi explained. "Fifty years ago Naraku went by the name Onigumo, a human bandit."

The water Dragon wrote the kanji for Onigumo in the air beside Naraku, then drew a line between the names.

"Onigumo was horribly burned, and a young Miko found him. Her name was Kikyou," he said as he next drew Kikyou's name directly under Onigumo's.

At hearing Kikyou's name, Ryura's interest was shown by how he leaned forward suddenly and began to pay rapt attention to what Tsuyoshi was saying and drawing.

"At the time, she was protected by a hanyou named Inuyasha," he paused to write the hanyou's name next to Kikyou's, only to draw a line between the two. "He is Lord Touga's son and Lord Sesshoumaru's half-brother. Inuyasha's mother was a human Princess who was named Izayoi."

Ryura didn't say he already knew this. He wanted to remain quite for now and see where this was going.

"Inuyasha was unaware that Kikyou was caring for Onigumo in a cave away from the two's village, so he went oblivious to what was to happen next. Onigumo became obsessed with Kikyou, but he couldn't have her, and yet a hanyou could. One so pure was going to be violated and tarnished by a vile hanyou." A line was drawn between Kikyou and Onigumo's name then.

"Onigumo knew that Kikyou was the Guardian of the Shikon no Tama after it came into her possession from a youkai slayer village. Enraged, he called upon lesser youkai spirits and willed them to take over his body so he could move once more. He was answered and Naraku was born." Tsuyoshi tapped a clawed finger against his left cheek as he spoke.

"He shape-shifted into Inuyasha and attacked Kikyou, took the Shikon no Tama from her and returned it to the village. Afterwards he took on the shape of Kikyou and attacked Inuyasha; however Lord Touga's blood is strong in him." Tsuyoshi allowed his hand to drop from his face and draw a line between Inuyasha's name and Naraku's. "Inuyasha sensed something was wrong and went immediately back to the village to fetch the Tama to keep it safe. Naraku, however, had other plans. He, still in the form of Kikyou, told the villagers that Inuyasha would be coming for the Shikon no Tama at any costs. This made Inuyasha have to use force to get into the village and retrieve the Tama."

As Ryura listened, he was already hating this Naraku bastard.

"The real Kikyou returned to the village and found out Inuyasha had attacked it for the Shikon no Tama, and despite her would, immediately went after him. In the end, she sealed him to the Tree of Ages, and just before she died, she instructed her younger sister, Kaede, to burn the Shikon no Tama with her body. The Shikon no Tama disappeared from this world," he explained as he drew out the kanji for Kaede's name and put a line between it and Kikyou's name in the air.

"Now, fifty years later, the Shikon no Tama has returned – you should be able to feel its call," he said while glancing at the nodding Ryura. He nodded himself and continued. "I am unsure how it returned, or why it returned, but it is back, except now it is in pieces."

"How...?" Ryura asked, bewildered.

"A young girl, by the name of Kagome, who is the current Guardian of the Shikon no Tama. She attempted to retrieve the Shikon no Tama from a crow youkai, and in the process, she struck the Tama with a Sacred Arrow and shattered it."

The story went on well into the evening. Tsuyoshi stopped and answered what questions Ryura had while he used the map he had drawn to point out the places Naraku had hit the hardest. Most of them had been in the eastern portion of Nippon. On Ryura's lands. This did nothing but cause anger and frustration at not only Naraku, but at Ryura himself, to course through his veins.

"Why has none of my House's allies come to aid?" Ryura asked finally.

Tsuyoshi smiled bitterly. "With the rumors floating about that you were part of the Four War Gods, what allies we may have had are few and far between. What is left of your sire's court has resigned to hiding away, waiting the day those who hunt Naraku succeed in killing the despicable hanyou."

"They aren't rumors," Ryura admitted, making Tsuyoshi's eyes widen dramatically. "My Lord?"

Ryura snapped his fangs together, "I said they aren't rumors! I was the Leader of the Four War Gods, trapped on Horai Island because the power sphere I used was locked away."

He couldn't look at Tsuyoshi. He didn't want to see the disgust, or the hatred. He didn't want to see the water Dragon turn from friend to enemy. He refused to watch it.

"My Lord, I heard they had died on Horai Island," Tsuyoshi said slowly, as if he didn't wish to upset Ryura further.

Ryura nodded harshly. "We did. Our death was delivered to us by the very same people who are trying to kill Naraku."

"The Shikon Miko and Lord Touga's sons? Then how..." Tsuyoshi was confused now. If he had died, how in the world was Ryura standing before him now?

"I was given a chance to redeem myself, and my soul by the Kami. If I can't, then my soul will be obliterated. Lord Touga came to me while I was a void and explained everything. I only returned a few days ago." Ryura still refused to look at Tsuyoshi as he spoke. "I'm worse than Ryuukotsusei; what I did was that unforgivable by the Kami. This is my last chance, my only chance."

Tsuyoshi noticed his Lords reluctance to look at him. He could sense no lies coming from the young Lord as he repeated his tale. Honestly, after what happened to Ryura, Tsuyoshi wasn't surprised in the slightest that he fell into darkness. It could happen to any youkai who went through what he had.

"Then I suggest we begin your redemption by discussing what you plan to do next," Tsuyoshi said kindly.

The words from his father's former General made Ryura look at him in surprise. His eyes were wide as he stared at the water Dragon, and he shook his head, wondering if he heard the youkai wrong. His jaw dropped, leaving his mouth wide open.

"If you are unsure, perhaps I may suggest a few actions?" Ryura could only nod dumbly to Tsuyoshi's question. "Close your mouth before you begin to attract flies, and dress yourself."

Tsuyoshi was grinning now, showing off his dangerous fangs. Ryura's mouth closed with a click and he grumbled as he went about dressing himself, shock wearing off into annoyance. His caretaker used to tell him the same thing when he was a child, to close his mouth before he attracted flies.


	5. Chapter 5: Royal Salvation

Chapter 5:

Royal Salvation

"None of us can ever save himself; we are the instruments of one another's salvation, and only by the hope that we give to others do we lift ourselves out of the darkness into light."

-Dean Koontz

* * *

Tsuyoshi walked alongside his newly returned Lord, his brain moving at a rapid clip due to the stories of the past Ryura was telling. Now he could see why Ryura had been ashamed to look at him after admitting he was the Leader of the Four War Gods. The crimes the group had committed were horrible, and he could truly understand how the Kami could not forgive him.

But that didn't mean Tsuyoshi would hold it over Ryura. After all, when a person attempted redemption, there always needed to be at least one person willing to not forgive, but to overlook past transgressions and look to the future, to guide the person into a better life. Tsuyoshi knew he couldn't be Ryura's salvation – the young Lord had to find that himself.

Tsuyoshi vowed to himself he would stay at his Lord's side as long as Ryura allowed it, until the Kami decided if he should live or if his soul should perish.

"Tsuyoshi, care to tell me what else has happened while I was gone?" Ryura asked, breaking Tsuyoshi of his thoughts.

"Of course, my Lord. Only proper after sharing your experiences, ne?" He asked with a wink of his now healed eye. "As I am sure you are aware, Lord Sesshoumaru has taken the mantle of Lord of the West. His mother, Lady Inukimi, still retains the title Lady of the West due to Sesshoumaru being unmated, and she oversees the lands while he hunts Naraku."

"I'm surprised he's unmated at his age. Lord Touga and Lady Inukimi were mated when they were fairly young, were they not?" Ryura asked with a raised brow.

"Yes, that is correct, but Lord Sesshoumaru I believe is holding off on mating and producing an heir until his lands are safe from the vile scum," Tsuyoshi said with venom dripping off his last words.

Ryura folded his arms as his head tilted. "Hm. Do you know where Lord Sesshoumaru is?"

"I cannot say I do, but I am sure I could find out." Tsuyoshi looked at Ryura from the corner of his eye. "Would it be wise to meet with him so soon?"

"Yes, I am expecting a bad reaction but it still has to be done. Speaking of 'so soon', how long has it been since the rumors of the Four War Gods started? I have no idea how long I was in the void for. Even though it felt like centuries I don't think it was very long, since Naraku and the humans hunting him are still alive, but..." he trailed off.

"Only six moon cycles," Tsuyoshi said with a bob of his head. "And I believe there is no such thing as time in the void, at least time as we view it."

Ryura was curious now. "What do you mean?"

"Well, think on it, my Lord. The Kami are unending. They are the only true immortals. Youkai can live for hundreds of years, the lucky ones can live for thousands. Who is to say that the Kami experience time as we do?" The water Dragon offered a small grin at Ryura's baffled look.

"So you're basically saying that what is a moon cycle to us is actually a century in...Kami-time?" Ryura's voice wavered. Kami-time, seriously? He wanted to smack himself at how dumb that sounded.

"Essentially, yes. Either way you were punished for quite a long time. I cannot begin to imagine how it must be to lose what makes us youkai for even a day, never mind six moon cycles," Tsuyoshi murmured thoughtfully.

The two fell into silence and walked for another hundred or so feet until Tsuyoshi suddenly spoke up, "Lord Sesshoumaru is fairly close. I will attempt to summon him. Prepare yourself for he moves much faster than he used to."

Ryura swallowed the lump in his throat. This was not going to be a pleasant experience and he fully expected to come out of it with a broken arm, or more.

* * *

"Lord Sessssshouuumarrruuuuuu!" came the cry of a green gami with a funny hat on his head. The gami carried a two headed staff; one head an old, graying man and the other a beautiful young woman.

The Lord in question paused only for a moment, looking over his shoulder briefly at his retainer. The gami's short legs were carrying him as fast as he could go, which made for a humorous enough sight that Rin, perched on Ah-Un's back, lost herself in a fit of hysterical giggles.

"Cease your noise, child! I have important information for Lord Sesshoumaru!" Jaken squawked while shaking his staff threateningly at the child as he trotted past her. His threat didn't work, Rin only continued to laugh.

"Jaken, I pray you have a good reason for this. I faintly remember saying I wished for no interruptions today," Sesshoumaru rumbled as he fully turned to look down at his panting retainer.

"Y-yes, you did, Lord Sesshoumaru!" Jaken said through gasps. "But it-you have message from Tsuyoshi of the East!" From the sleeves of his clothing he produced a small scroll bearing the marking of a silver lightning bolt.

Sesshoumaru snatched the scroll from Jaken's small hands without hesitation. It was rare for Tsuyoshi to seal his missives with the silver lightning bolt of the House of Storms. He broke the seal with a claw and spread it out with his fingers. Having only one arm sort of made it hard to read the scroll properly, but Sesshoumaru adapted quickly.

_Sesshoumaru, Patriarch of the House of the Moon and Lord of the West,_

_I send this to you in hopes your hunt for the vile hanyou Naraku are coming to fruition. I believe I can safely assume that all of Nippon is looking forward to the day the hanyou is destroyed._

_That said, I have a request. The young Lord Ryura has recently returned to the East and he is wishing to meet with you. He is more than aware of the events in the past, and fully expects any punishment you see fit to give him._

_May the Moon Grace the West and May the Wind Grace the East,_

_Tsuyoshi,_

_Steward of the House of Storms_

Sesshoumaru felt his lip lift in a silent snarl. While he knew the message had come from Tsuyoshi judging by the scent that layered over the parchment, it didn't stop him from being wary of hearing Ryura was alive and well, when he was supposed to have died on Horai Island. He swore on his ancestors that if Naraku had somehow managed to revive Ryura the same way he had the Band of Seven, Sesshoumaru would tear down the eastern mountains and take Naraku with it.

The scent of flowers assaulted his nose as his poison rose to the surface, a neon green engulfing his hand and the scroll at the same time. Soon nothing was left of the message, and Sesshoumaru flicked his hand to the side, ridding it of any lingering acid.

"Jaken, find my half-brother and the Miko. Take Rin to them," Sesshoumaru said as he turned on his heel and began heading east. He didn't wait for a response from Jaken, knowing what the gami would say anyway. Some grovel about "Yes, Lord Sesshoumaru, of course Lord Sesshoumaru, right away Lord Sesshoumaru!" or "The whore and the half-breed!? Why, my Lord, why!?"

The latter would have earned Jaken a swift kick to the head, and it wasn't something Sesshoumaru exactly had time for at the moment.

Once he was far enough away from his small pack, Sesshoumaru quickly folded himself into a small orb of light and rose into the air, only to streak across the sky in the direction of Tsuyoshi's scent.

When he found the water Dragon, Sesshoumaru descended swiftly, only coming to a stop when directly in front of Tsuyoshi. Next to him was Ryura. The red eye'd Dragon had his lips pressed into a thin line while watching Sesshoumaru's form unfold from the white orb of energy and light.

"I see you weren't joking about how fast he can move now, Tsuyoshi," he heard Ryura mumble to the water Dragon beside him, earning a soft chuckle.

"Greetings Lord Sesshoumaru, I hope your trip was fair?" Tsuyoshi asked with a smile.

"Indeed," Sesshoumaru began. "What is the meaning of this?" His eyes slid over to rest on Ryura as his senses went into overdrive, trying to pick up some hint of deception. Grave soil, specifically. His senses were still examining everything about Ryura as the Dragon Daiyoukai spoke.

"Well, first off, it's good to see you too, asshole." Ryura snapped. Tsuyoshi elbowed him in the arm and gave him a firm glare. Ryura cleared his throat. "Your sire gives you his greetings and wishes to inform you that he is now a part of the Kami; he has ascended. Congratulations, Lord Sesshoumaru, you are now the son of a God."

Sesshoumaru stared hard at Ryura. Every word he had spoken was the complete and utter truth. There were no speed increases of his heart to show he was lying, nor did his aura fluctuate. The information, once proven to be true, floored Sesshoumaru. His father? A _Kami_? He felt bitter at that. Just how was he to surpass his father, again?

"I see, and yourself? How is it you are standing among the living once more?" Sesshoumaru voice was guarded, per the norm. His eyes held a curiosity that Ryura picked up on right away. He didn't grow up with Sesshoumaru for no reason, after all.

"The Kami felt being locked away and turned into a void wasn't a suitable way to attempt to redeem my soul. After all, one can't prove themselves when they can't move, breathe, see, hear, or taste, can they?" Ryura said dourly. "Tsuyoshi and I are under the impression that time moves slower in the void. While it has only been six moon cycles since my death for you, for me it has been six centuries. I'm pretty sure your sire had something to do with it, though. I'm not the only one in history who has committed a heinous crime."

Sesshoumaru listened intently and watched, searching for any lies. When he found none he motioned for Ryura to continue.

"Your sire came to me, woke me from my apparent slumber and explained what was to happen. I will tell you what he told me, on behalf of the other Kami," Ryura said.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "Ryura the Dragon, Daiyoukai and Patriarch of the House of Storms, once Lord over the Eastern Territories of Nippon. You are hereby released from your imprisonment, and you will be returned to Earth. This decision has been made to give you a chance to redeem yourself and your very soul. Should you fail, this one and only chance will be swiftly stripped from you. If you fail, you will never live again. We will be your judges. Live your life and live it well. You will not be given another opportunity to prove yourself."

When he was finished repeating Touga's words, Ryura's eyes opened to look at Sesshoumaru. The Daiyoukai of the West held a thoughtful look on his face.

"And you have summoned me. Why?" Sesshoumaru asked after a few moments.

Ryura let out a soft chuckle. "I wish to redeem my soul, Sesshoumaru." He dropped his title, wishing to speak to Sesshoumaru on even ground, as friends. "I know my actions in the past were far from honorable, and I hate myself more every second that passes for what I've done to my family." He gave a broken smile. "You have always been one of the most honorable people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. I ask for your help."

Sesshoumaru's brows rose and his eyes widened a fraction in a rare display of shock. "You wish for my help," he said. The Dragon Daiyoukai bowed deeply, as deep as a commoner would to him.

"Very well," Sesshoumaru murmured. "However until you find your own path, you will act the Lord you were raised to be. While you may not have a grip on your lands, does not mean you can afford to act anything but the Lord you _are_. I will not remind you again."

Ryura instantly rose to stand straight and he nodded. Sesshoumaru turned to walk away, only pausing to throw a command over his shoulder. "Follow."

Tsuyoshi and Ryura looked at each other for a moment, then the water Dragon gestured to follow after Sesshoumaru.

The trip was silent for the most part, except for short words from Tsuyoshi pointing out pieces of the lands they were traveling. Quite a lot had changed during the time Ryura had been away. Sesshoumaru hadn't said a word since they left. He was too busy scenting the air, trying to get a clue to where his half-brother might be. Where he was is where undoubtedly his ward would be.

Sesshoumaru made a sharp right, finally getting a whiff of the half-breed's stench. Honestly, didn't the boy know how to bathe himself? Sesshoumaru was aware the Miko took as many baths as she could, so why couldn't Inuyasha learn from that? It was like he couldn't smell himself.

"Excuse me, Lord Sesshoumaru, if you do not mind my asking, where is it exactly are we going?" Tsuyoshi asked after a few more moments of silence.

Sesshoumaru didn't pause to look back; he spoke as he walked, adding yet another thing to the list of what he was doing. Sniffing out his half-brother, paying attention to his surroundings, looking for any threats, walking, and talking... Well, good thing Sesshoumaru was quite capable at multitasking.

"We are to retrieve my ward, as well as Ryura's swords," he said. He heard Ryura's breath catch behind him and inwardly Sesshoumaru smirked. Apparently the Dragon had been looking for his swords, but couldn't find them while Sesshoumaru knew exactly where they were, or really, _who _they were with.

"I am unsure of the reason, but your swords have chosen a temporary master. They were brought to me while their new master attempted to find someone who fit the swords, since you were dead at the time," Sesshoumaru explained as they continued walking. Ryura had sped up and was now walking alongside the Inu Daiyoukai. The anxiousness he felt to feel his swords in his hands once more was not missed by Sesshoumaru.

"Why didn't you take them? I mean, they're strong swords," Ryura asked curiously. "I'd rather you have them than some ignorant asshole who would mistreat them."

Sesshoumaru glanced at him. "They would not allow me to touch them; a barrier has been placed over them, and from the lightning that attempted to harm me, I would think the swords erected the barrier themselves," he paused for a moment. "Worry not. Your swords are in very, very loving hands. Totosai has shown them how to properly care for a sword, considering their new master is an archer and has only ever held a sword to taunt me."

"Taunt you? And they lived?" Ryura snorted with laughter. "Must be some archer, then."

"By sheer luck, I assure you. I found my sire's grave and attempted to retrieve Tessaiga. I lost my left arm in the process," he admitted ruefully. "I will leave the rest of the story for your sword's temporary master to finish. It is quite the interesting tale."

Ryura fell into his own thoughts at that. Tessaiga- no, don't tell him the hanyou held his weapons! He paled at the thought and shook it forcefully from his mind. That was the last thing he wanted. If that hanyou had harmed his swords in anyway, Touga's son or not, he was going to die.

Despite his attempt to shake the thoughts away, they kept coming back and picking at his brain. When Ryura heard the aforemention hanyou shout Sesshoumaru's name with hate and digust, it did nothing to ease Ryura's worries. The hanyou _did _have his swords! Oh, somebody was going to die tonight. And that somebody was a half Inu-youkai with freaking dog ears on top of his head, dressed in a smelly fire-rat robe.

"Inuyasha, sit!" came the cry of a woman, followed by an earth shaking thump. Next to him, Ryura could sense Sesshoumaru's humor, and he silently wondered what all that was about.

Sesshoumaru, Ryura, and Tsuyoshi broke through the tree line, entering a large clearing where a camp was set up. Boar meat roasted over a fire, and bedding was laid out at various points around the campsite. Ryura's red eyes darted around the camp, taking in the appearance of everyone there, not minding when they began to pull their weapons out when they noticed him.

He couldn't see or sense his swords anywhere. Had Sesshoumaru been lying? No, the Daiyoukai just didn't lie. He saw it beneath him, just as his sire had.

"Oi, ya bastard, what are you doing with _him_!?" Inuyasha yelled while pointing the tip of his transformed fang-blade at Ryura. "Isn't the fucker supposed to be dead, anyway!? And who's he!?" Tessaiga's fang swiveled around to point at Tsuyoshi. The water Dragon raised his hands in an innocent gesture.

"Inuyasha, you will cease opening your mouth if nothing but _colorful_ language will spill out around my ward," Sesshoumaru growled out as his hand landed on Rin's head. The girl squealed the moment she saw him and instantly attached herself to his leg. The sight earned a choked snort from Ryura, which earned him a glare from Sesshoumaru.

"Seriously Inuyasha, I think having a Princess for a mother and a Lord for a father, you'd have better manners engrained into your genetics!" Kagome spat out. She hated it when he cussed around Rin, too.

"What? Kagome, the fu-" he was rudely interrupted. "Inuyasha, sit!"

The beads around his neck shone purple and he was rammed into the earth. So _that's _what the shaking earlier was about. Ryura promptly lost it. He pointed a clawed finger at the prone figure inside a hanyou shaped crater, and laughed hysterically to the point he had tears in his eyes.

The oddly dressed Shikon Miko stood over the crater, hands on her hips as she yelled at Inuyasha, still in his crater. When he tried to get up, she yelled the command word again, causing the hanyou's body to rise into the air, only to be slammed down again. It made Ryura laugh even harder; he was sitting on the ground now, pounding a fist into the dirt, unable to contain his mirth.

"Inuyasha, don't you think Sesshoumaru realizes how much we're needed to defeat Naraku? He wouldn't of brought the guy here if it wasn't for an important reason! And you goofball, he has Tensaiga. He might have revived him, for all we know!" Kagome scolded Inuyasha as if she were a mother with an unruly child. "And just look at him! Does he looked like the crazed maniac we met on Horai? That jewel is gone and so is the diamond on his forehead!"

"Lady Kagome, I think we should focus on Lord Sesshoumaru and his...guests," Miroku said in an attempt to get the girl to realize just how dangerous the situation was. Didn't she remember Haroi Island?

"I have to agree, Kagome... This is a dangerous – _they're _dangerous," came Sango's voice soon after Miroku was done speaking.

Kagome looked up and blinked, eyes darting between the monk and youkai slayer. "Huh? Oh come on, guys. Sesshoumaru isn't stupid. If he wanted to kill us by ambush, this wouldn't be how he would've done it. Think about it. We all felt his aura before he showed up."

Jaken had to agree with the wench. His Lord wasn't stupid, though he did wish he would kill Inuyasha and just be done with it. He bobbed his little green head in agreement, but kept his thoughts to himself for once.

"My Lady, I must ask. You speak very freely of Lord Sesshoumaru. Are you his intended?" Tsuyoshi spoke up for the first time since they arrived. His question only made Ryura laugh harder. Sesshoumaru, mate a _human_? "Ah, forgive me as well. My name is Tsuyoshi. I am the Steward of the House of Storms."

"Bwhahahah!" Ryura roared. "Her, and Sesshoumaru? Mates? No offense, Miko-sama, but..." his words were stopped by a renewed bout of laughter.

"Oh hell no!" Inuyasha yelled as he popped up from his crater. "I dunno who you are, but you say something like that again, I'll wipe that goddamn head of yours off your fuckin-"

"Sit!" Kagome screamed while pointing a finger at him.

Her face was a bright cherry red at the words and she looked down at the ground. She knew she was just a human, and not very powerful, but to have someone laugh at thinking of her and Sesshoumaru together, sort of hurt. She didn't feel anything for the Daiyoukai Lord, of course. The hurt came from something far different than that. Kikyou had once laughed at her for her thinking she could be with Inuyasha. It reminded her of that horrible experience.

Sesshoumaru watch the exchange with interest, and he knew he wasn't the only who felt the hurt course through the woman-child's aura. He chose his next words carefully, "The Miko is powerful, Ryura, despite her race. If such a thing would happen, I would be proud of what heir she could give me."

That was enough for Ryura to stop laughing immediately. It was then, those words that he said, that Ryura realized just how much Sesshoumaru had changed over the centuries. He looked to Sesshoumaru thoughtfully, inwardly smiling. It was a good thing, that he changed. He had been far too much like his mother in the past for Ryura's liking; a giant stick in the mud. He just sort of sapped all the fun out of all the games they would play when they were children.

No one paid attention to Kagome sitting Inuyasha yet again when he popped up and almost tried to rip Sesshoumaru's head off. They instead looked at Sesshoumaru, waiting for an explaination for this arrival with the two other youkai.

"If the half-breed will calm down, we can begin explaining why we are here," Sesshoumaru murmured to Kagome, who had walked over to Rin to ask if she was ready to eat.

Kagome's blue eyes blinked and she looked from Rin up to Sesshoumaru. "Oh, sure. Can we eat first, please? We were traveling all day, and I'm sure even Rin is hungry, aren't you sweetie?" She finished with a smile as she turned her attention back to Rin.

"Rin is hungry, yes! Lord Sesshoumaru, may Rin eat with Kagome-chan and the rest? She has not ate aaaaaallll day!" The child gave Sesshoumaru her famous gap-toothed smile, and the Daiyoukai Lord of the West narrowed his gaze, slowly turning it to Jaken. His left eyebrow jumped with annoyance when Rin's stomach growled, furthering her point of not eating all day.

"Jaken," he said, his voice dangerous and low. The gami squeaked and turned around to face his Lord. Shippou stuck his tongue out at Jaken, since the gami had been arguing quietly with him before now.

"You have not allowed Rin to eat?" Sesshoumaru asked.

Ryura, behind Sesshoumaru, fell into another bought of laughter for reasons unknown to the others, even Tsuyoshi. The water Dragon gave Ryura a curious glance, one which Ryura could only respond with a, "You'll see!" before trying to muffle his laughs.

Since Sesshoumaru looked as if he was about to blow his top, Kagome gently urged Rin to go and sit next to Sango so the youkai slayer could help her get a plate of food together. Kagome was sure Sesshoumaru wouldn't stop her, not with the knowledge that Rin hadn't ate all day now revealed to all of them. If Sesshoumaru didn't kick Jaken to Hell, Kagome sure would; she wasn't happy with the little gami either.

Sesshoumaru stalked over to his retainer, and looked down at him with still narrowed eyes. "Well?"

Jaken began to stutter, "M-my Lord! We were traveling in search of the hanyou and his who- the Miko," he corrected himself quickly, "There was no time to stop!"

"That is why there is dried deer in one of Ah-Uh's saddle bags, Jaken," Sesshoumaru said as he deftly ripped Jaken's staff from his hands, only to bop the gami harshly over the head. "Make sure it does not happen again."

Jaken fell into a heap of brown and green on the ground with a quickly growing bump the size of an orange on his head. He muttered out a "Y-yes, Lord Sesshoumaru," before Sesshoumaru stepped on him as he passed by.

Ryura's snort was drowned out by the gami's cry of shock. It seemed to the Dragon Daiyoukai that Sesshoumaru had found a way to entertain himself, and by the looks of it, it entertained the rest of the group too, especially the small Kitsune whose tail was still bristled over the small argument they had they thought no one else could hear.

"Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru said as he neared his half-brother. "Calm yourself. No harm will come to your pack. Save father's fang for Naraku."

Inuyasha, who had been watching as if everyone had suddenly lost their minds, snapped out of his reverie and growled at Sesshoumaru while sheathing Tessaiga. "Fine, whatever. But if he and his buddy over there," he said while pointing at Ryura and Tsuyoshi, "try anything, I'll take it out of your hide after I kill them."

"I am sure," Sesshoumaru said sarcastically.

"Oi, ya as-jerk!" Inuyasha stepped forward to be nose to chest with Sesshoumaru.

Kagome rolled her eyes and went back to plating the cooked boar. With the inu brothers bickering, no one was going to be able to talk, so they might as well eat. When everyone but the youkai, minus Shippou, had a plate, Kagome rose to her feet and walked over to the are Ryura and Tsuyoshi were quietly sitting and offered them both a plate with a smile.

"You two should eat, too! Especially you," she said while looking at Ryura. "If you've been dead all this time, you have to be hungry."

Not wanting to offend the Miko, Tsuyoshi carefully took the plate from his hands and nodded at the other, "You should accept her offer, Lord Ryura."

"I..." Ryura fumbled with the words, overly shocked she was being decent with him. Was this girl insane? He tried to kill her and her friends before! He grunted and gave a short nod, then took the plate from Kagome. "Thank you, Miko-sama."

"Kagome, my name is Kagome, and I prefer to be called it," she said evenly, not exactly liking being addressed in such a way.

Startled, Ryura looked from his plate up to her. "...very well, Lady Kagome."

The Miko huffed and threw her hands up in the air. Oh well, it was a start.


	6. Chapter 6: Attachment

Chapter 6:

Attachment

"Why was I holding on to something that would never be mine? But isn't that what people do?"

-Bret Easton Ellis_, Lunar Park_

* * *

With Inuyasha less hostile now that he got his anger out by arguing with Sesshoumaru and then stuffing his face full of boar, the camp was relatively quiet. They needed to talk, but no one knew where to start. Shippou surprised everyone by slowly walking up to Ryura and looking him in the eyes. The Dragon Daiyoukai was still seated on the ground, so looking him in the eyes wasn't real hard to do for Shippou, especially not when Ryura lowered himself a bit to help the kit out.

"I know what you did on that island; I was there – the big pink bubble with eyes. What I don't know is what made you so evil. If you're friends with Sesshoumaru and truly _that _Ryura of the East, then what happened to make you like...how you were? How are we supposed to trust that you've change?" he asked, his voice as steady as he could make it. He was scared out of his mind, but for his pack, for his adopted mother, he wanted to make sure.

His words were ones every person of Inuyasha's pack wanted to ask, but for some reason were avoiding it. From the mouth of babes, after all.

Pain filled Ryura's eyes and he quickly looked away, deciding to stare into the fire instead of answer straight away. Silence descended on the camp once again, until Tsuyoshi cleared his throat.

"If you wish, my Lord, I will explain?" He asked softly.

Ryura looked from the fire to his newly named Steward. He shook his head, "No. It's my story. I'll tell it."

"Y-you don't have to, if it's painful..." Kagome said gently. Ryura answered her by giving her a small, pained smile.

"I do have to. Don't worry," he said with a sigh. He inhaled deeply and said one word, a name. "Ryuukotsusei."

"That gnarly looking bastard? What did he do?" Inuyasha asked gruffly. It seemed his slip up would go ignored for the sake of information. It wasn't like he lied, really. Ryuukotsusei _was _a bastard, born illegitimately to an unwed and unmated mother.

"He attacked my mother and father after they refused to help him wage war on the West. You see, Inuyasha," Ryura said the hanyou's name for the first time, "Your family and mine have had strong bonds throughout the centuries. The West and East have been allies and close friends since before our great-grandsire's time. Ryuukotsusei was a distant cousin of mine, but quite a bit older than I was."

"And he won, I take it?" Miroku asked next.

Ryura nodded slowly. "It was an ambush. Ryuukotsusei was angry, of course, but no one thought he would be angry enough to attack my family. He waited until my parents and I took our evening walk before I was put to bed. My parents had no time to react. We saw Ryuukotsusei coming, and my father and thought he only wanted to speak. No one was expecting him to shove his hand through my father's chest, and then rip out my mother's throat while she was in shock at seeing my father die."

"H-how old were you, when this happened?" It was Kagome's turn to ask a question. She was startled a bit when Ryura's blood red ruby-like eyes met her own.

"I was twenty-one summers." At his words Shippou allowed his head to fall until his chin touched his chest. The humans of the group looked confused. At twenty-one a person was fully grown, but his parents were still putting him to bed?

"Kit, tell them your age." Sesshoumaru said, speaking for the first time since they began talking about the former Lord and Lady of the East's deaths. He remembered the time well. Never had he seen his father so enraged. It was the first time he saw his mother's tears, as well.

Shippou stuttered while still looking down, "I'm close to being thirty-three summers. Y-youkai, Dragons most of all, age slower than humans. If he was twenty-one, he would...would have been about six in human terms."

Kagome gasped loudly as she swung her gaze to Ryura. He saw his parents die, and by someone from his family, no less!

Tsuyoshi sighed through his nose. His Lord had already explained this next part during their travels. He wouldn't allow him to repeat it again. Despite what he had done in the past, no one deserved to relive horrible parts of their lives such as this so many times in one day, much less force to speak of them aloud.

"After the Lord and Lady's death, Ryuukotsusei took Lord Ryura. He saw the potential power that lied deep within Lord Ryura, even when he was a child. My Lord Shoichi was on even ground with Lord Touga. My Lady Kasumi was nothing to brush off, either. She could hold her own for at least an hour against Lord Shoichi. You can imagine how powerful their offspring would be – especially with the swords gifted to him by Lord Shoichi, which Ryuukotsusei stole in order to train Lord Ryura with." He said then paused for a moment to let it sink in. "He treated Lord Ryura as if he were lower than a criminal and was very cruel to him. By the time Lord Touga sealed Ryuukotsusei away, it was too late for Lord Ryura. He would have to come out of the darkness on his own."

"After he was sealed, that's when I went out on my own. I found the others, my brothers, and we formed the Four War Gods after discovering spheres of power. Imitations of the Shikon no Tama," Ryura admitted. He felt his stomach turn having to even mention the spheres, but he had to for the sake of all listening.

"And then the events on Haroi Island took place," Miroku offered, and Ryura nodded.

"Honestly, you would think someone would be angry meeting the people that killed them, but..." Ryura trailed off to look at the fire merrily dancing away, despite the depressing atmosphere. "I want to thank you, each of you. If it weren't for you – well, I don't want to imagine what I would be doing right now."

He caught movement from the corner of his eye and looked up to see Kagome standing and walking over to an odd yellow bag that looked like it had seen way too much travel. Next to it, lying on silk-like bedding, was a box wrapped in blue silk. Oddly enough, the silk was the color of Ryura's hair. She picked up the box and walked over to him to sit seiza in front of him. The action caused him to sputter with panic. What was she doing!?

Sesshoumaru rose a brow at the action. She honestly had no idea what she was doing, he could tell by the look on her face. Didn't Inuyasha teach her _anything_?

"Here, these are yours," Kagome said, bringing everyone from their thoughts. They all watched as she unwrapped the box, fiddled with the latch, and opened the lid to reveal Fujinga and Raijinga. The swords gleamed in sharp contrast against the black silk padding they rested on.

Ryura looked from her face to the swords, then to Sesshoumaru. The Inu Daiyoukai shrugged one shoulder and nodded towards his swords. So, then the Shikon Miko was the ones his sword had chosen as a temporary master. Why?

He intended on asking, but his swords prevented it for now. Each thrummed with a pulse of power, greeting Ryura in a way only they could. He reached out with both clawed hands and carefully took a hold of the hilts of each sword. They began to rattle, shaking with what appeared to be excitement at being back in their proper master's hands, but Ryura quickly silenced them by pressing down on them with his youki. The swords greedily soaked up the white energy, feeding from it, an action they had not done in so many moon cycles. The thrived off their master's youki. It empowered them in a way nothing else could, not even the blood of their enemies.

The rest of Inuyasha's pack watched on with worry. Seeing Ryura with his large and deadly looking swords in his hands while Kagome knelt in front of him like a sacrificial lamb did nothing for their nerves. They were kept in place, however, by a firm glare from Sesshoumaru. The glare silently screamed, "Do not interrupt unless you wish to be forced to relocate your arms."

They watched as he lifted the swords in the air, and each of the hanyou's pack sucked in a breath. Was he really going to kill her, with all of them right there with the children? Shippou let out a soft whine he couldn't keep in, and Inuyasha quickly had him by the back of his haori and lifted him to sit on his fire-rat clad shoulder.

They exhaled in relief when Ryura sheathed the swords on his back, in the scabbards that had been empty until now. Now he looked like the Leader of the Four War Gods they remembered a little too well.

"Lady Kagome," he said, making her look up at him. "I cannot begin to thank you enough for returning my swords. They mean more to me than I can rightfully explain."

Ryura ignored her squeak of protest at being called Lady, and bowed his head, his hands planting firmly on his knees as he lowered himself in a bow as far as he could in his sitting position. He was low enough his forehead almost touched the now closed box that were once a home for his swords.

"Keh, I'm just happy they're gone. Fuckers wouldn't leave Kagome alone," Inuyasha grumbled from his spot opposite of Ryura and Kagome.

Ryura's head snapped up as his body leaned to the side a bit to see around Kagome until his eyes rested on Inuyasha, "What do you mean?" he asked. Miroku answered for him, considering the glares Inuyasha was receiving from Sesshoumaru and Kagome, who had looked over her shoulder.

"Perhaps two weeks after the events on Haroi Island, Lady Kagome went to bathe. She went by herself, when she normally goes with Sango but due to a...misunderstanding." He was interrupted by a snort from Sango, "More like I was worried you were going to go into pervert mode when your 'cursed' hand started twitching like a maniac."

Miroku's cheeks were stained with a blush and he cleared his throat, "Anyway. When she was returning, she screamed. Inuyasha and Sango ran off to find her – I was tied up in a heated discussion with Kirara-," he was interrupted again, this time by Kagome. "No. He was literally tied up with Kirara watching him."

Kagome giggled at Miroku's pained grunt. Why must the Kami punish him so!

"_Anyway_. When they found her, your swords were sticking from the earth, hilts crossed – even though we thought them to be destroyed during your fight with Inuyasha. Inuyasha attempted to be rid of them time and time again, but your swords would always find their way back to Lady Kagome when she was alone. As a last resort, Inuyasha attempted to destroy them," he was not going to be interrupted again! He didn't pay attention to Ryura's growl and kept on talking, "but as you can see, it did not work. We took them to Totosai, and by this time a barrier had formed around them possibly due to Inuyasha's rough treatment. He explained they had chosen Lady Kagome as a temporary master until a new one could be found. He gifted her the box and silk to make it easier on her to carry them – they are extremely heavy and Lady Kagome is such a fragile thing."

No! He wouldn't be interrupted! He pulled out a ofuda and slapped it on Inuyasha's forehead before the hanyou could finish opening his mouth. With a crack of blue holy energy snapping from the ofuda Inuyasha went as still as a boulder, golden eyes settled on Miroku with a glare. Off to the side, Miroku heard the water Dragon Tsuyoshi snort, trying to keep a laugh from escaping. Miroku just ignored that.

"We attempted to aid her in finding a new master who would not abuse their power, but in the end, when Lord Sesshoumaru could not even touch them, she decided to keep them with her, for as long as it took. She has been caring for the swords until now." Miroku nodded, happy with himself. He kept himself from being interrupted quite nicely, if he had any say in the matter.

Ryura had by now straightened himself and was no longer bowing before Kagome. His arms were crossed and he had a thoughtful look on his face. His swords had done such a thing? He knew they were sentient, but that seemed a bit extreme. He threw a glancing glare back at his swords, one they responded to with an innocent pulse of energy, as if they were children being scolded and saying, "I didn't mean to do it, it just happened."

Yeah, right.

Kagome moved to rise to her feet, and was half way to standing but was stopped by Ryura suddenly reaching out and taking ahold of her wrist. Startled, she looked down at him, her blue eyes staring at him as if he grew a second head.

"I apologize for their behavior. It was very unbecoming of them and was an unneeded hindrance to you and your pack," he said then quickly let go of her.

"Damn right it was!" Inuyasha yelled, having been freed from his paralyzed state. The ofuda was quickly slapped back on his forehead, before Sesshoumaru could rip Inuyasha's tongue out of his mouth. The Inu Daiyoukai looked like he was seriously considering it, and probably would have, if Rin hadn't fallen asleep against Ah-Un while Miroku was talking.

"Inuyasha, sit boy." Kagome said for added effect. He slammed into the ground despite the ofuda. It only meant he would be face down in the dirt until Miroku felt like rolling him over and releasing him.

She hugged the now oddly light box against her chest, and gave Ryura a smile. "It's alright. They ended up growing on me. I'll actually miss them," she said with a soft laugh.

Before Ryura could ask what she meant, Kagome had already turned and was wrapping the box back in the blue silk that reflected his hair color. He hn'd much like Sesshoumaru would and folded his arms once more over his chest. They 'grew' on her? Behind him, his swords rumbled in their sheaths as if saying, "I have no idea what she could possibly mean!"

Time ticked by slowly as Ryura went on to explain how he had returned to the living. When he mentioned Touga, Inuyasha's father, had become a Kami, everyone was easily able to see Inuyasha swell with pride.

He too, like Sesshoumaru, was the son of a God.


	7. Chapter 7: Heroes

Chapter 7:

Heroes

"I have never been especially impressed by the heroics of people convinced they are about to change the world. I am more awed by those who struggle to make one small difference."

-Ellen Goodman

* * *

Eventually Miroku released Inuyasha from his paralyzed state, and the group readied themselves to rest for the night. Inuyasha perched himself in a tree, a custom of his. It gave him higher ground to watch over his pack, regardless if they had not one, but three Daiyoukai apparently spending the night at their camp. He was still in a sour mood because of that, but he had been sat enough today, thank you very much. Miroku had taken his spot against the base of a tree opposite of Inuyasha, with Kirara transforming at his side. Sango rested against her fire nekomata companion comfortably, Hirakotsu, Sango's overly large boomerang, close by. Just in case. Sesshoumaru had tried to deposit Rin gently near Ah-Un, but he was stopped by Kagome.

"Sesshoumaru, if you don't mind, Rin can sleep next to me and Shippou? My sleeping bag is more than big enough, and it might help from keeping us all spread out randomly if something happens," she said carefully, not wanting to offend the Inu Daiyoukai and make him think she was implying he couldn't protect Rin.

Sesshoumaru considered her offer for a moment, then nodded. He waited quietly to the side as Kagome and Shippou climbed into the "sleeping bag" and made themselves comfortable. With Kagome's help, he carefully laid Rin down next to the Shikon Miko. The girl instantly rolled over and clung to Kagome's shirt. Shippou was soon to follow, sleep overwhelming him, and he too rolled into Kagome's side, opposite of Rin. Kagome smiled happily at the two, then looked up to Sesshoumaru. She gave him a bright grin, resembling the Cheshire Cat – not that Sesshoumaru knew what that was yet – and then bid the rest of the camp goodnight.

Once everyone was asleep and with Sesshoumaru resting against a different tree altogether, Ryura scooted over until he was closer to Tsuyoshi. He knew Sesshoumaru was going to hear everything he said, because there was no way the Daiyoukai was asleep. His eyes might have been closed, but that didn't mean anything.

"Would you have any idea why my swords did that to Lady Kagome?" he asked as softly as he could.

The blue eyes of Tsuyoshi opened, as he too had been resting with his back againt a tree – what was it with men and trees, anyway? - and he peered over Ryura's shoulder for a long moment, looking directly at the hilts of the swords on his back. He rolled the question over in his mind, his head tilting to the left and causing his white-blue hair to spill over his shoulder.

"I am honestly not for sure, my Lord," Tsuyoshi replied back in the same sort of whisper. "Perhaps they were attracted to her power? They had witnessed her on the island, did they not?

Ryura nodded once, and Tsuyoshi followed suit. Speaking again he offered in a playful tone, "By her actions earlier, presenting you with your swords in such a manner, perhaps your swords can predict the future and have seen her as your mate?"

Across the way, Sesshoumaru let out an undignified snort. It was one of the few times he couldn't stop his body from doing what it wanted, and hearing the water Dragon speak of the Miko mating with Ryura had tickled him to the point it was laugh really loud or snort. Even Ryura's swords were chiming in. They rattled yet again in their scabbards, but Ryura wasn't exactly for sure what to make of the movements, or the way they were releasing a small amount of energy. The rhythm of the movements wasn't one he had ever experienced before. Kami damnit, if only they could actually talk, this would be so much easier.

Tsuyoshi, on the other hand, watched as the swords tried to move around and silently wondered if his jest held a bit of truth. He shook his head softly and looked over to Sesshoumaru, still leaning against the same tree with his eyes shut. His eyes then drifted up to the hanyou. Tsuyoshi had to admit, he was a bit shocked Inuyasha had fallen asleep. He didn't seem the type to sleep in peace around this many people he didn't know. Maybe his elder half-brother's presence was lulling him into a comfortable state? If he had been on the verge of falling asleep but was refusing to allow his body to do so, it was more than likely possible.

Inuyasha might hate Sesshoumaru, but Inuyasha's instincts knew better. The Alpha of his pack, Inuyasha's _true_ pack, was close by and guarding over him and the rest sleeping within the campsite. There was no way Inuyasha would be able to _not _fall asleep. Sesshoumaru seemed to notice the same thing, if him suddenly opening his eyes and peering over at Tsuyoshi and Ryura had anything to do with it. He rose gracefully to his feet and moved over closer to the other Daiyoukai, then lowered himself into a sitting position. With Inuyasha out like a snuffed candle, Sesshoumaru would be free to talk without the hanyou interrupting.

"I do not believe Inuyasha has taught the Miko anything of youkai. She is a very expressive person. Both her facial expressions and her aura make it near impossible for her to hide what she is truly feeling," he said softly to not wake anyone, but loud enough for the Dragons to hear him. "Her earlier actions may have meant something in our eyes, but to her, the meaning behind the action was lost. I honestly do not think that she realized she was offering herself as a potential suitor to you, Ryura."

Tsuyoshi hummed. "But why would he teach her anything at all, Lord Sesshoumaru?"

Sesshoumaru gave the man a dry, withering look. "Because she is the adoptive mother of a Kitsune child, if you have not realized it yet. And at one point in time, it looked as if Inuyasha himself would mate the Miko."

Ryura blinked quickly at that, "_Looked _as if? What happened?"

"That is not my story to tell, Ryura. If you truly wish to know, I suggest you ask the Miko in private," Sesshoumaru retorted.

Sesshoumaru left then, back to his tree and his former position. Tsuyoshi nudged Ryura with an elbow and nodded towards the sleeping bag with the Miko and children in it. His brows were drawn together out of worry. When Ryura looked over, he noticed what Tsuyoshi was so worried over. Even Sesshoumaru's eyes had reopened to look at those resting in the sleeping bag.

The Miko's head was thrashing back and forth, and the grip she held on to the children with would almost be hurtful if the Miko decided to put anymore pressure behind it. Her face was screwed up, a look of fear etched onto her face. Sweat beaded on her forehead, and she let out a soft whimper. Ryura was on his feet before his brain really registered what he was doing. He quietly moved over to kneel and place his the back of his hand on Kagome's forehead, only to quickly pull it back as if he'd been burned. She was sick? How could none of them notice it before now? Her fever was high enough it felt like Ryura could cook meat on her forehead.

He looked back to Sesshoumaru and jerked his head towars the Miko. Sesshoumaru was next to them in no time flat and carefully prying Rin and Shippou's fingers from the Miko's shirt. While he was worried for the Miko, it wouldn't help anything if the children caught whatever disease she had. Tsuyoshi had also made his way over, but walked past them to wake up the youkai slayer.

Sango woke with a jolt and a sharp yip, but was quietly silence by Tsuyoshi placing a clawed finger on her lips. She looked angrily up at him, wondering just what in the hell he was doing, but all her questions were answered when he stepped to the side, allowing her to see the scene playing out in front of her. She didn't pay any mind to Sesshoumaru placing Rin and Shippou against a now awake Kirara, who was also watching on with her red eyes in worried slits. Kagome was thrashing about, her face a bright red in color, and sweating profusly. Ryura was attempting to wake her, but it proved to be far from effective. When she began panting, Ryura waved Tsuyoshi over to them and when the Daiyoukai arrived he spoke quietly to him. Tsuyoshi placed his hand on Kagome's forehead and when it began to glow, Sango could see the fog drifting from his hand.

Of course! He was a water Dragon! He could control the temperature of the water in the air; he was trying to cool Kagome down.

Sango moved one of Kirara's tails off her she had been using as a blanket, and quickly made her way to Kagome's monstrosity of a back pack. She rifled through it until she pulled out a bottle with red liquid inside. Kagome called the material of the bottle plastic, and said it was medicine meant for fevers and helped reduced pain that usually came along with being sick. The Miko had marked the small cup that was on its lid it with instructions that should she not be around, that line was where the liquid was to be filled to, the medicine was to be taken orally.

Shuffling around, Sango filled the cup with the red liquid to the line, and moved as fast as she could without spillig any medicine over to Ryura. "Make her take this," she said quietly.

Ryura looked up at her with confusion, but nodded his head and took the small cup from her. At the same time he put a hand under Kagome's head and lifted it slightly until it was angled. He used his pinky finger to open her mouth, still holding onto the cup with the rest of his fingers, and quickly poured the liquid into her mouth. Once the cup was back in Sango's hands, he closed Kagome's mouth and rubbed at her throat until she swallowed.

"It'll take a bit for it to work, but don't worry, the fever will break soon," Sango said when Ryura looked at her expectantly. "But she'll need to go home for a bit to recover. It'll be best for the rest of us, too. Her immune system is a lot stronger, she'll survive."

Kagome had explained to Sango quite some time ago that disease was not as rampant in her era, at least not the kinds of diseases people of this era could and fairly often did catch. She called these diseases colds and the flu, and said they were relatively minor in her era. Medicine had just advanced that much, which honestly blew Sango's mind away at first. Kagome had been able to build up a resistance to a few diseases, thanks to the medicine of her era.

Without waiting for a response, Sango padded silently until she was under the tree Inuyasha was perched in. She almost lost it and started laughing when she saw his mouth hanging open with a line of drool making its way down his face. She squished the desire to laugh and instead called out to him.

"Inuyasha! Psst!"

Inuyasha jerked away and rubbed at his eyes, then scrubbed the sleeve of his haori over his mouth when he felt the drool. When had he fallen asleep? Looking down, he saw Sango's worried gaze looking up at him. "Whatisit?" he asked groggily in one slammed together sentence.

"Kagome's sick, she needs to go home. Ryura helped me give her that medicine she carries around, but she'll need time to recover," Sango answered.

Hearing Kagome was sick had Inuyasha leaping from the tree and landing with a soft thud next to her sleeping bag. At seeing her, though, Inuyasha wondered if she was just sick. He had seen her sick before, when he made her the remedy his own mother used to make for him such a long time ago. This didn't look like "sick Kagome", this looked like "borderlining death Kagome."

"Shit!" Inuyasha exclaimed. Thankfully it wasn't loud enough to wake anyone else up, though it had Sango moving over to stand beside him and asking what was wrong.

"This isn't sick. I've seen her sick. She looks like she's about to die." He said as he bent down and tried to pick her up, but was oddly enough stopped by Ryura suddenly leaning over her and blocking her from Inuyasha's path. His face was distorted into one of pure rage, the look fierce enough to make Inuyasha stumble back a few steps. "Wha..."

"I will take her to her home. I can move faster than anyone here, just point me in the right direction," his voice was hard. Aiding her when she was ill was the least he could do for her, considering how well she had taken care of his swords.

"Sorry, buddy, but there ain't no way I'm letting you run off with Kagome! Besides, you couldn't get to her home even if you tried," Inuyasha snapped, feeling his rage bubbling inside his chest. How _dare_ he. "She's from the future and the well doesn't let just anyone through! I'm the only one that can pass besides her!"

"Inuyasha!" Sango scolded.

Inuyasha brushed her look off. He'd worry later about spilling Kagome's secret to people who were at once upon a time their enemies. Well, at one point, they had all been Kagome's enemies, even Inuyasha, but that wasn't something he wanted to think on right now.

Ryura was shocked into silence and he slowly removed himself from hovering over Kagome like a mother hen and sat back on his rear, exhaling loudly. The _future? _Tsuyoshi looked just as shocked as Ryura felt. His blue eyes were wide enough Ryura almost wondered if his eyeballs would fall out of their sockets.

Kagome whimpered and snapped Ryura from his thoughts. "Fine, whatever, but I'm coming with you. You can't fight and hold her at the same time."

Inuyasha bristled but reluctantly agreed. He didn't have time to sit and argue with the bastard. With one swift motion he held Kagome in his arms, watching quietly as Sango pulled out a small blanket from Kagome's bag and moved to wrap the Miko in it.

"Keep her safe, you two. You're her heroes. Don't disappoint her." Sango said with a seriousness that surprised both Inuyasha and Ryura. It held a silent warning. "If she dies because you two were idiots, you'll be following after her."

Sesshoumaru nodded to his half-brother when Inuyasha looked back at him with a firm gaze. "I will remain and watch over your pack, Inuyasha. Go."

With Sesshoumaru's word, Inuyasha took to the skies with a powerful thrust from his legs, Ryura following close behind him. As they left Inuyasha couldn't help but wonder exactly how many more enemies were going to suddenly become their allies thanks to Kagome.


	8. Chapter 8: Lord of Death

Chapter 8:

Lord of Death

"The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug."

-Chris Hedges

* * *

Inuyasha ran with a rush of adrenaline he normally would only experience in battle, clutching Kagome tightly to his chest. Every time he landed and would push off again, his adrenaline would do nothing but increase, pumping through his veins with such a vigor he began to silently wonder if he would lose himself to his youkai side, regardless of Tessaiga on his hip or not.

To his side, Ryura was in much the same frame of mind. His swords rattling violently on his back did nothing to help him, either. It seemed they were worried just as much as he and the hanyou were for the Shikon Miko and the feel of their urgency only caused him to push his body harder. He, however, never needed to touch the ground, unlike Inuyasha. He was running across the air currents until he had to fall back to the earth only to leap back up; the hanyou was not truly flying like Ryura was. Feeling it was slowing them down, Ryura commanded the wind to Inuyasha's feet and made an invisible road for him.

The hanyou noticed it quite quickly. The air seemed to pull together for him and he had no need to lower himself to the ground anymore. Being this high in the air only caused his speed to grow. He was defying gravity, as Kagome mentioned once after seeing Sesshoumaru fly, and he sure as hell wasn't about to look a gifted horse in the mouth. He ran for everything he was worth, praying to the Kami that Kagome was not truly dying, and if she was, he would make it to her era on time to save her. Sesshoumaru might have Tenseiga and could easily bring her back to life, but there was absolutely no reason for Kagome to experience the coldness of death and come back just because Inuyasha was feeling lazy.

No, she wouldn't die. He refused to allow it.

To his side, Inuyasha noticed Ryura's eyes faintly glowing, giving the already eery looking orbs and even more intense light. Was he the one making it where Inuyasha could just run without obstacles? If so, Inuyasha was almost grateful.

Neither one of them spoke to each other as they traveled. The only sounds were coming from Kagome whenever she would release a whimper of pain. The noise pushed Inuyasha to move faster and faster every time he heard it, and it looked as if Ryura was in the same position, gauging the fierce and angry look on his face, and when he would gain a burst of speed.

Thankfully they were not too far from Kaede's village and the Bone-Eater's Well. They would have made it to the village before dawn, but one little thing was in their way.

A pink shimmering barrier surrounded a man in frightening armor. His black hair was unbound and flowing freely about his form, and his red eyes were focused intently on the woman in Inuyasha's arms.

The hanyou released a snarl that was the man's name. "Naraku!"

Ryura came to a halt beside Inuyasha, his own growl escaping him at Inuyasha's declaration. So this was Naraku, eh? Ryura looked over him carefully, and narrowed his eyes when Naraku's gaze shifted to focus on him instead.

"My, my, such a rush for one little Miko. She even has a Daiyoukai escort!" Naraku said with a short laugh. "Now, I wonder what in the world could be wrong with the little Priestess?"

"You bastard! What did you do to Kagome!?" Inuyasha yelled while baring his fangs.

"How close are we?" Ryura said only loud enough for Inuyasha to hear him. The hanyou's head snapped to the side, "Two minutes, tops. Why?"

"Go, I will keep him busy," Ryura said before reaching behind him with both hands and gladly answering his swords' call to be drawn. They sang happily with a metal hiss as the swords exited their scabbards.

Inuyasha stared hard at the Dragon Daiyoukai. Normally he would be firmly against it, as Naraku was his to kill, but for Kagome? He could let it slide just this once. He nodded once and darted to his right, skating across the sky in a wide arch, giving Naraku as much room as he could.

"Oh no, I don't think so, _Inuyasha! _The Miko is _mine!_" Naraku roared as he flung his left arm out to the side. His hand quickly formed into a wooden-like tentacle and shot outside of the barrier, aimed and ready to strike Inuyasha as it cut through the air.

"Fuck you, asshole!" Inuyasha yelled in return.

He realized that there was no way he could avoid the tentacle without seriously causing Kagome injury. Miko she might be, but she was still human. His turn would have to be too sharp, and it could potentially break her neck.

Inuyasha wasn't worried about it for too long, though. Ryura appeared with a bolt of lightning in front of him, the sword gripped in his left hand slicing clean through Naraku's tentacle.

He looked over his shoulder and yelled, "Go now, Inuyasha!"

"Don't kill him, eh!? Naraku's my kill! Just kick his ass enough he disappears for a few weeks!" Inuyasha yelled in return, already have taken off in the direction of the well. Once he was past that portal, there was no way Naraku could endanger Kagome any further.

"Ho? And exactly who are you, youkai?" Naraku said as he spun back around to face Ryura. He wasn't stupid, he knew there was no way he could possibly catch Inuyasha before he disappeared down that damned well, and was off to where ever it lead. It didn't mean the Miko disappearing with Inuyasha made him happy, though. He didn't dare turn his back on the Daiyoukai that had been with Inuyasha, being so unsure of who exactly the man left Naraku with no other options than to stay put.

Ryura didn't answer Naraku's question at first. He merely spun Raijinga in a slow circle.

"I am Ryura the Dragon." And with that, he pushed off some invisible ground beneath his feet and literally flung himself at Naraku with such a speed that the spider-hanyou himself had a hard time keeping up with Ryura.

Raijinga and Fujinga clashed against the pink barrier surrounding Naraku, causing sparks of all colors to fly in multiple directions.

"Tch, coward." Ryura mumbled as he thrust Fujinga behind him, and just as quickly, pushed it forward with the tip aimed for Naraku's barrier with a burst of white youki now swirling about the blade.

To Naraku's surprise, the barrier shimmered under the weight of Ryura's attack. The spider-hanyou regarded the youkai attacking his barrier thoughtfully. His name rang a bell in Naraku's head.

And then he threw his head back and laughed. "Ryura the Dragon! Leader of the Four War Gods! Oh how far you have fallen to be protecting a _human whore and her hanyou pet!" _His voice was raised now and he pushed back against Ryura in the form of tentacles sprouting from his back.

Ryura snarled at Naraku and quickly hopped backwards, slicing at what tentacles encroached too close to his personal space. He drew back his head and inhaled deeply, his cheeks expanding. Within his chest he felt his youki bubble to the surface, quickly rising to mix with the air in his cheeks. He jerked his whole body forward and opened his mouth, releasing a stream of youki in the shape of wide column of bright white and blue lightning, and aimed it straight at Naraku and his damned barrier.

Ryura heard Naraku laugh once again, "You truly are the Dragon of the War Gods, what a pity! Still, it would be _such _a shame just to kill you. Your control over wind and lightning would be most welcomed – absorbing you would such a better option."

Angry now, more-so than before, and with his adrenaline pumping widely through his veins, Ryura poured more of his youki into the attack, increasing not only the size of the stream of power but also its intensity. Naraku's eyebrow began to twitch as his barrier was constantly assaulted. Now normally this wouldn't be a problem, but the Daiyoukai was actually managing to _crack_ said barrier.

Once he was out of breath, Ryura leaped forward, Raijinga poised in front of him with the blade's tip aimed for the sky. Lightning began to crackle around it, turning the metal into a dangerous instrument of destruction.

Ryura laughed darkly and then he roared, _"You, _absorb _me?_ Don't make me laugh!"

"Damn it to hell!" Naraku cursed as he watched the Dragon fly at him, lightning crackling all around him. He blew out a mist of miasma, which only turned into lower level youkai.

"Dragon Thunder!" Ryura was right over Naraku and the slowly appearing horde of youkai below him. The now white lightning pounded down on Naraku and what unfortunate youkai who were close to him, destroying them while disintegrating Naraku's barrier.

Naraku yelled out in pain as the lightning began to disintegrate his body. When there was nothing left but ash, Ryura noticed a doll sliced in half falling. Naraku had been a puppet.

"Damnit!" He cursed as he fended off one of the many youkai left behind in Naraku's disappearance.

The more he killed, the more his blood boiled to an almost explosive temperature. That son of a bitch had ran away like a coward! When he found him, he was going to rip his damned still beating heart out of his chest and _eat _it in front of the fucking creature! Nothing would please him more right now than to see fear etched into Naraku's face as he watched himself _die._

As soon as all of Naraku's minions, the summoned youkai, were dead with their mutilated parts falling quickly to the earth, Ryura let out a roar of unadulterated rage that only a dragon could emit. The slowly brightening sky from the sun rising was soon overshadowed by dark, angry storm clouds that swirled as if a tornado was about to be formed. Lightning danced through the air as thunder rumbled the earth itself.

Residents of Kaede's village who were waking up to begin their day witnessed the ominous storm clouds and swiftly they began to pray to Amaterasu, begging them to prevent her brother, Susanowo the Deity of Storms and Chaos, from destroying their village and to spare their lives. Little did they know it wasn't Susanowo, but a very angry Dragon Daiyoukai.

The elder Miko, Kaede, watched the sky with worry. She knew the power was not the Kami, but Youkai.

He was going to find Naraku, and he wouldn't stop until one of them was dead. He would kill anything that got in his way for the insult Naraku gave him, and for harming the being that had somehow managed to find and take care of the last relic and reminder of his family, the person the swords themselves had become attached to – they too fed his rage. Naraku would be in Hell before the moon cycle was finished.

In the realm of the Kami, Touga watched on with a sigh. The boy had fallen back into purblind and blood hungry rage. He only hoped he would snap out of it before the situation became too out of hand and he was forced to destroy Ryura's soul.

* * *

Five hundred years into the future, Kagome woke with a pounding headache. She faintly noticed she was lying in her bed, in her own home. Her body felt heavy, her throat hurt, and she found it hard to breathe. Her head was stuffed up, probably what gave her the headache, and slowly Kagome began to wonder if the boar she ate the night before was rotten.

"Kagome! You're awake!" she heard her mother's excited cry, and she flinched at the volume. Hitomi was quick to realize Kagome's head must be in a world of pain, and lowered her voice a few decibels.

"I have medicine for your head if you need it, dear." Her voice was much softer this time, and Kagome could only be grateful for that and the medicine her mother placed into her hand as she sat up. She put the pills into her mouth and threw her head back, swallowing them without the aid of water.

"Thanks, mama." Kagome whispered, noticing just how sore her throat was. "W-what happened?"

Hitomi smiled softly and sat down next to Kagome on her bed. She gently pushed Kagome down until she was laying flat again, and smoothed her hair away from her forehead. "You were terribly sick. Sango with the help of your new friend... Ryuu... Ryu..."

"Ryura," Kagome supplied.

"Yes! Ryura. They got medicine into you, and Inuyasha and Ryura brought you home," Hitomi said with a nod. "Inuyasha wanted me to tell you something, though..." Her brow furrowed as she thought about the weird message.

"What was it?" Kagome asked hoarsely.

Hitomi stuttered for a moment, trying to repeat the words exactly as Inuyasha said them. He made it clear she needed to do this. "Journey's end- still alive, this autumn evening."

Eyes flying open, Kagome shot up in bed like someone lit a fire under her. "What!? Mama, is that what he said? Are you sure?"

"I'm sure, yes. Why?" Hitomi asked. Now she was confused beyond belief. Why did a haiku send Kagome into a near panic?

She watched her daughter fly around her room on wobbly legs, throwing things into the nearest bag she could find, which happened to be a black messenger bag Souta probably left in her room on accident. She packed her First Aid kit, medicine setting on her desk meant for her illness – else the medicine wouldn't of been in her room to begin with – along with an extra change of clothing and a pair of shoes. She then ran from the room, returning with bathing supplies, packing them away with the rest of her things.

Hitomi quietly wondered if Kagome realized what she was doing. She never had taken anything but her extra school uniform with her before – now she was taking jeans, a t-shirt, and normal shoes.

She continued to watch as Kagome haphazardly threw her hair into a pony tail for whatever it was she was going to do. Hitomi knew better than to try and stop her; after all she had her blood as well as her late husband's running through her, and if they weren't the two most stubborn people in the world, she didn't know who was.

Kagome didn't pay attention to what she was already wearing. Black yoga pants and a white tank top were the last thing on her mind. She pulled on an extra pair of sneakers, white and pink with black soles and a pink puma cat along the tongue. Kagome didn't care at the moment that she was in her house – it was her room, after all. She could wear her shoes if she wanted to.

She marched over to the window, threw the bag over her shoulder, and hopped onto the small balcony outside. Kagome heard her mother squeal with fear, but she ignored it, instead leaping over the side and landing with a grunt on the ground below. A wave of dizziness hit her, and she tried not to pay it any mind. She had to go; she should have already been there _yesterday._

"Kagome Hirgurashi! Don't you ever scare me like that again!" Her mother yelled after her.

"Yes mama, I'm sorry!" Kagome yelled in return. Oh if her mother ever found out half of the crazy stunts Kagome pulled in the Fuedal Era, Hitomi would have a heart attack.

* * *

A.N.: The haiku used in this is from Basho!


	9. Chapter 9: Illusions of Darkness

Chapter 9:

Illusions of Darkness

"I am a forest, and a night of dark trees: but he who is not afraid of my darkness, will find banks full of roses under my cypresses."  
― Friedrich Nietzsche, _Thus Spoke Zarathustra_

* * *

Where was he? Where was that son of a bitch Naraku!? Ryura growled deep in his chest, the force of the sound shaking his form. Three days he had been searching! _Three. Days._ And he hadn't found a trace of him anywhere! Was this why it was taking so long for Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha's pack to track down and destroy the vile, cursed, horrid spider-hanyou? It must be, because no way in hell would Inuyasha, much less Sesshoumaru, allow that cur to walk freely on the earth for this long!

"Fuck!" Ryura yelled at nothing. "Touga, you rat bastard! You brought me back for _this!?_" Now he was yelling at the sky, shaking a fist threateningly.

He heard Touga's voice drift softly through his head, "Ignorant pup..."

"You shut your stupid, dirty mouth and do not call me that again!" Ryura roared back. "I am a Dragon. _Dragon! _Not some smelly damned Inu!"

Despite himself, Touga laughed loudly within Ryura's mind before his presence faded, leaving Ryura utterly alone once again.

The Dragon Daiyoukai spun on his heel, snarling at his surroundings. "Naraku, when I find you, I'm going to enjoy tearing you apart piece by shitty little piece!"

Ryura stalked in a circle, his booted feet falling heavily on the earth, a rare sight for someone who was normally so light on his feet. It only proved his anger was mounting higher with each passing second. Kagome could be dead for all he knew. He hadn't seen hide nor hair of Inuyasha since the hanyou disappeared into the well – not that Ryura had exactly been looking for him, but still. Naraku had somehow managed to infect Kagome with some sort of disease, and right under _three _Daiyoukai grade noses! Not one, not two, but _three! _

What the hell was wrong with the world when a simple fucking hanyou, no matter how evil he was, could pull of such a stunt!? It's like a rat wiggling its butt in your face, spraying its diseases right up your nose, and you don't realize what the hell it was doing until you were lying on your death bed with the plague, wondering "Woe is me! How did I ever catch this!?"

Ryura tilted his head back and yelled in frustration. It was that damnable bauble Naraku was obsessed with, that's how he pulled it off! For a so called former War God, Ryura was doing a horrible job at sticking to the basics – learn as much as you can about your enemy so things like this wouldn't happen!

But no, he had to be an emotional wreck, rambling off when one person asked what happened to him and his family. And wondering where his swords were! Weapons, he was worried more apparently about weapons than he was about finding out information about the creature infesting his lands with its _filth_.

What the hell? This was why he locked these emotions away centuries ago!

"Argggh!" he yelled as he scrubbed his clawed hands through his hair. "That's it!"

White light burst forth from the ground at his statement, and quickly Ryura was in the air, shooting across the sky as if he were a falling star.

"Find Naraku, find Naraku, find Naraku, find him find him find him findhimfindhim – KILL THE VILE CUR," ran through his head like a mantra, and with every moment the mantra was borderline insanity. Six hundred years, for him at least, in a void did nothing for his mental stability, that much was obvious, but that moment Ryura couldn't find it within himself to actually care. As he streaked through the sky he felt his instincts rise back up and back track his course, and that is exactly what he did.

* * *

Kagome panted due to the effort it took to pull her body from the well. She felt like she was made of lead, or bricks, whichever was heavier. Once she was free of the well and resting on the lip of the wood she simply slid down the outside of it until her face was resting against the ground, the lower half of her body still dangling into the darkness of the well.

"Inuyasha, Ryura!" She tried yelling as loud as she could, which wasn't very loud at all. Her throat was killing her still.

Either way, she waited to see if one of them would show up. She tried calling out for them again, but her efforts were in vain. No one had heard her, or they were too far way to hear her to begin with. And so, she crawled away from the well until her feet were on the ground, and then she gingerly stood up. That was when she saw it.

A pile of youkai parts was stacked on the ground, blood seeping into the earth and staining the grass a nasty color of muddy-red. The cuts were too percise, too clean, to be Inuyasha, and there were no signs of Wind Scar's claw marks the attack left behind anywhere Kagome could see. Did that mean Ryura killed all these youkai?

Oh, Kami, no. She prayed silently to Touga, Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru's father turned Kami, that it wasn't the case. If he had killed them, it would be like giving a recovering drug addict cocaine. Since Ryura had just been brought back to life, she didn't know if he was in the right mind frame to enter this big of a battle; there looked to be literally hundreds of youkai stacked atop each other, no matter how many parts they were in. He was going to get addicted, he was going to fall, his soul was going to be destroyed.

"No!" Kagome croaked out. "Lord Touga, if you can hear me, please wait! Don't kill him yet! Please, I'm begging you!"

When she felt a cool rush of air brush along her left cheek, Kagome managed to calm her panic down some. Even if it wasn't Touga answering her, it still made her feel better. She found a new energy to press on, and using a trick Kaede had been trying to teach her, Kagome attempted to locate Ryura's youki or aura. It was difficult for her at first, given this was the first time she tried to do it on her own, but the more she fumbled the more experience she gained and within an hour of her walk, Kagome had the ability down fairly well.

His aura wasn't exactly hard to find, the more she thought about it. It was so enraged she worried Ryura had lost control of himself. Either way, it made her task easier. She would find the Dragon Daiyoukai and try to calm him down. He just returned and it wouldn't be fair if he was destroyed for a single slip up when he hadn't been back on earth for more than a week.

She felt pity for him, she truly did. It's why she gave him his swords back the night before. They were his; heirlooms from his father. Kagome couldn't imagine losing the bracelet her father had left for her before he died when she was a young girl. It would absolutely crush her. While it wasn't exactly a pair of swords, the fact remained the same that both carried sentimental value that could never be replaced with a replica.

Two hours into her walk, Kagome wondered if this was really the best idea. The only out of control youkai she had ever faced was Inuyasha, and then she had the subjugation beads to help her out. What did she have to help her with Ryura if he lost himself to the point he couldn't recognize her? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. All of this was piled onto the fact she was still sick and feeling sicker by the moment. Not to mention the sun was just about to set, leaving her with only minimal light to see by.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, ignoring the pain following the movement, Kagome steeled herself as much as she could. She would soon be approaching Ryura's location and she couldn't afford to be paranoid and worried. Kagome pushed away all thoughts of what could happen, and focused on the now, on the Daiyoukai that was standing in front of her once she broke the tree line.

Ryura's form was heaving to and fro with how hard he was panting. He was beyond enraged, Kagome could tell just by his actions. His claws were digging deep into his forearms, his arms crossed over his chest tightly. The actions caused blood to seep into the white of his sleeves and forced the fabric to bunch up and cling tightly to his flexed muscles of his biceps. The Dragon Daiyoukai was still covered in blood from his large battle. It was extremely old, staining his clothing and armor that Kagome could see in dark red, almost black, splotches and lines.

Kagome bit her lip, gnawing on it nervously. She could see his swords rattling wildly away in their scabbards on his back, but he wasn't making any attempt to calm them, possibly because he couldn't calm himself. The sight of him scared her to a small point yet at the same time she was in awe at how he looked. Bathed in the dark of night, the light from the moon shone in broken pools of hazy white off of his clothing. It was as if she was watching yin become yang, and watching a rose made of blood bloom without the sun to aid it.

"Ryura, you're hurting yourself..." Kagome said softly in a hoarse tone.

Ryura jerked as if he'd been struck and quickly spun around to face her. His face mimicked the rest of his body; tense and hard. The muscles along his jaw line jumped sporadically. His eyes, wide with rage, stared at her as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Claws leaving his arms with a soft pop, Kagome could see fresh blood coating his fingers. His face, too, was covered with blood, but like the blood on his clothing and armor, it was old and dried.

"Lady Kagome," his voice was rough, and he sounded worse than she did and she was sick! "Why have you returned? You are still ill, I can _smell _it."

The Miko flinched at his question, knowing it was stupid how she just waltzed back into the past while being as sick as she was. "I-Inuyasha left a message – a haiku we use when Naraku shows up and I'm at home. Sometimes he can't always find me, so we decided if that happens he would give the message to my mother to give to me. This was the first time we've had to use it... It's a way to let me know what's going on, without freaking out my mother."

"Which haiku?" Ryura asked, his voice still showing his rage.

"Journey's end- still alive, this autumn evening." Kagome answered in a whisper, too afraid to raise her voice any higher for multiple reasons.

"Damn right that asshole is still alive." He spat out after Kagome was finished. "I've been looking for three days, almost four!"

Okay now it was a good time for her to raise her voice. "Four days!? That's how long I was unconscious for!?"

Ryura gave a stiff nod. "Almost. Tomorrow morning will be the fourth day."

They fell silent and Kagome returned to gnawing at her bottom lip. Ryura was looking anywhere but at Kagome, not knowing what to say. He was so angry words couldn't even begin to form, and for the life of him, his damned swords wouldn't stop their infernal rattling. He growled loudly to see if that would get them to shut up, but it only served to make his swords rattle more.

Kagome jumped at the sound, letting out a soft squeak, which made Ryura's eyes snap to look at her face. His harsh gaze made her flinch yet again, and she began to chew harder on her lip until she tasted blood. She heard Ryura growl again and when she looked at him, he finally moved from his stationary position, and he was heading right towards her, a dark look taking over his face.

What was she going to do now?

* * *

A.N. I totally forgot to say this before, but I have roughly around 19 chapters of this story completed so far, and I'm planning many, many more. The story just won't end with Naraku's death. Thanks to those so far who have taken the time to read this, and I hope you've enjoyed it and continue to enjoy it as it progresses!


	10. Chapter 10: Escape

Chapter 10:

Escape

"I want to run. To do what I always do, have always done, for the last five years of my life. Escape, flee into the shadows. But this time, I stand my ground. I'm tired of running."

-Marie Lu, _Prodigy_

* * *

Kagome swallowed hard, her eyes never leaving Ryura's; even when they narrowed into blood-red slit, Kagome didn't look away. If she was going to die, she was going to stare it in the face. She squared her shoulders and attempted to mentally prepare herself. Obviously she had done something to upset Ryura even further, and when she reached the Kami, she would beg for his life. If she didn't want to die, she shouldn't have come to him and made him angry. She knew what she was getting into. Poking at an angry Daiyoukai was like poking at a sleeping dragon, no pun intended, and they always said to let sleeping dragons lie.

She watched his hand snake out towards her, and needless to say, Kagome was surprised when instead of ripping out her throat like she thought he was going to, he put a thumb on her lip and gently removed it from between her teeth. Kagome could feel warm blood, his blood, left behind.

"Stop doing that. You're going to chew your lip raw even more than you already have," he grumbled out.

His hand now back to his side, Kagome could only stare dumbly, forgetting all about his blood on her mouth, as he moved away from her to begin pacing in a wide circle. She noticed when his back was to her that his swords were still throwing a fit, and she laughed softly. Kagome had seen this only a few times before, but she had an idea, one she voiced.

"Ryura, could you let me see your swords? You don't have to draw them or anything."

Her question startled him, and he stopped his pacing to look at her over his shoulder and eye her critically. He gave it some thought before nodding. The action was stiff as it was before, showing Kagome he hadn't calmed down at all.

Ryura moved back over to her and turned his back on her. Kagome only realized then how tall he was, when she should have known better. After all, he stood eye to eye with Sesshoumaru, and the Inu Daiyoukai was by no means short. Huffing, Kagome stood on her toes, hands reaching up and trying to touch the hilts of Raijinga and Fujinga. Noticing her efforts, Ryura lowered himself, squatting, until she could reach the hilts.

And when she could, she instantly grabbed a hold of the swords. The movements ceased quickly and they rumbled with a thankful pulse of energy. She bit her lower lip again out of worry, an action that would have made Ryura twitch if he saw it. Kagome barely noticed the tingling in her mouth.

"You two should behave," Kagome murmured to the swords, not caring if Ryura thought her crazy. "He's your master. He's my friend. You shouldn't do things just to aggravate him."

The swords pulsed again and this time the energy almost felt...apologetic, throwing Ryura for a loop. Never before had his swords reacted to anyone except his father and himself. Just what in the world was going on? She wasn't kidding when she said they grew on her.

The swords finally calmed and Kagome giggled. "There, see? It's not so bad, is it?"

This time the swords didn't respond, and Kagome took the silence as a statement that she was right. Ryura rose to his full height and slowly turned so he could look at her face, which was stained with a blush.

"Sorry if that seemed stupid. They acted up sometimes when I had them, and I calmed them down just like that," she murmured.

Ryura's brow shot to disappear into his bangs. "What else have they done when in your possession?"

"Nothing, really. Well, if you don't count eerily showing up when I didn't have them," she paused then clapped her hands together. "Oh! Also, whenever I was stressed or in a battle, they'd kind of pulsed like they did before. It always seemed to calm me down."

"Huh..." Ryura grunted questioningly. Perhaps the old man, Totosai, would know what was going on? He had forged the blasted things after all, though he didn't think Totosai let that little bit of information be known to Inuyasha and his pack.

He raised a hand to stroke his chin, leaving yet more blood on his face. Yes, that would be exactly what he would do; visit Totosai. Later. For now, however...

His gaze returned to Kagome and he gave her a firm glare, "You should be resting, woman."

Kagome stuttered, "I was-was worried!"

"Don't be. It was a fucking _puppet_. That son of a _bitch_..." he felt his rage returning.

"What did he do, besides his whole puppetry act?" Kagome asked carefully. She could feel his aura spike with anger. That new ability was apparently good for more than simply finding auras. She could feel them, too, if the person was allowing them to be felt.

Ryura looked back to her, grinding his teeth. "He somehow managed to infect you with some disease while we were camped, and attacked Inuyasha and myself on our way to take you to your era."

"M-my era?" Kagome paled. Oh, Kami, no... had someone...?

"Yes, your era. Inuyasha blurted out you're from the future; five hundred years in fact. I wouldn't allow him to take you at first. I can move far faster than he can; I can move even faster than Sesshoumaru if I need to – he disagreed, saying he was the only one who could pass through the well." Ryura's voice was a low growl again, thinking back on how the hanyou denied him his request.

Kagome sighed. "Damnit, Inuyasha..." she released in a frustrated manner. It was rare for her to curse, but when she did, it was usually for good reason.

"Do not blame him too much, Kagome. He was in distress because of your condition," Ryura admitted honestly. It was a very large secret, and Inuyasha had just blabbed it for all listening in to hear. If that information fell into the wrong hands, Kagome would be in danger of being taken for her knowledge of future events. He could understand her anger, but given the circumstances, he hoped she would let it slide.

"Either way, the knowledge will not pass my lips unless I am sure I am speaking to you or your pack, and only your pack." He had calmed down enough now that his voice was slowly returning back its normal octave.

Kagome was just about to thank him profusely, but she stopped when she noticed his body was slightly see-through.

"Ryura! You-!" Kagome gasped, her hands flying to her mouth in order to cover them.

Ryura followed her gaze to look down at his chest. His eyes widened then flicked to his hands. They were ethereal as well.

"What in the layers of Hell is happ-," he wasn't allowed to finish. He disappeared right before Kagome's eyes with no fanfare. No magical pop, no sparks of light. He simply was...gone.

"Ryura?" she asked as she looked around frantically. Nothing was left behind, not even his swords. "Ryura!"

She took one step forward and another wave of dizziness caused her to fall to her knees. "Ryura!" She yelled, her voice cracking due to panic and her illness.

The Kami hadn't taken him, had they?

"No! Lord Touga, Kami-sama! Please, listen to me! I am the Miko of the Shikon no Tama! You are the parents of my soul, please listen to me!" She yelled at the sky, not caring if it felt like her throat was ripping apart. "Don't take him, not yet! He was fighting Naraku! Even Inuyasha's gone on a rampage when he's disappeared. Please, no, it's not fair-," she was cut short.

Her blue eyes rolled back into her head and she fell towards the earth, landing with a dull thump on the grass.

Where Ryura had gone, she would never find him. Even if the Kami had heard her plea, they made no movement to show it, and so Kagome went into a fitful slumber, unaware of Ryura's fate.

* * *

Ryura looked around and frowned. He was back inside the void. Dread gripped his heart and a lump formed in his throat. He couldn't feel anything, but at least he could breathe. It was a small sign of hope. At least he wasn't the void itself again.

"Ryura the Dragon," Touga's voice came from behind him. As he turned to face the Daiyoukai turned Kami, the same bright golden light as before filled the void. "Do not fear, pup. I only wish to speak."

Ryura felt himself calm and he let out a sigh of relief. "What is it, Lord Touga? And pup, honestly?" his voice was deadpan.

Touga let out a throaty chuckle and a true smile came to his face. "I am your god-father, Ryura. I believe that gives me the right to call you what I wish."

Ryura grumbled. "Fine, fine."

Walking forward, Touga entered Ryura's personal space and leaned down slightly. He wasn't much taller than Ryura, but he was enough he needed to bend down to look him in the eyes. What Ryura saw within those eyes, however, scared the living hell out of him. A calm, collected sense of anger was pooling within Touga's golden eyes. Never before in Ryura's life while Touga had been alive had he seen him look as angry as he did at that very moment.

"Kagome," he said. It was the only thing he said, and that single name did absolutely nothing to ease Ryura's fear.

"Kagome...?" he questioningly croaked out.

Touga gave a swift nod. "Yes, Kagome. I have been protecting her since she entered this era. I was the one who opened the portal between the times, knowing it had to be done in order to rid the world of the Shikon no Tama forever. I was the one who put the idea into her head to release Inuyasha from his imprisonment on the Sacred Tree near the Bone-Eater's well." He paused, but only for a short moment.

"I am the one who allowed her to pull Tessaiga from its place inside of my grave, and I am the one who guarded her through Tessaiga against Sesshoumaru's poison when he attempted to kill her in his rage of being denied the sword. I have watched over her for every step of her journey; protected her in ways Inuyasha can't. I made it rain to hide her tears when Inuyasha yet again broke her heart by choosing an _undead Miko made of fucking clay _over her," he spit out the words, leaving Ryura even further stunned that the great Inu no Taisho actually cursed in such a way.

As he was about to unload a bombardment of questions on Touga, his air supply was cut off by Touga's large and clawed hand wrapping around his throat. "If you harm one single hair on her head or break her heart, I will personally torture you for eternity in Hell. Kami I may be, but Daiyoukai I remain in spirit. I have no issue casting myself into Hell in order to watch you _suffer, _Ryura. Do you understand?"

Ryura did the only thing he could, nod slightly. He was starting to turn blue as his hair, he could feel it.

Touga roughly let go of him at his nod, "And I don't mean some argument or lover's spat – if you hurt her in any way as Inuyasha has, I will have no mercy."

Rubbing at his raw and tender throat, Ryura frowned. "Why?"

The Kami sighed then and ran a hand through his bangs. "Upon ascending my soul was taken out of the reincarnation cycle, and I was allowed to remember every former and future life I ever had, all the way to Kagome's time and past that. Tsuyoshi was correct in his explanation of how Kami view time – do not ask how or why, your brain may explode."

He murmured something soft enough not even Ryura could hear it, and the Dragon Daiyoukai watched as Touga lifted his head to stare upwards at the golden light surrounding them. "One life I had, my name was Hikaru Higurashi. I was born human, in a time far from your own. I met and married a woman named Hitomi, and started a family. My eldest child was a girl who was born with the Shikon no Tama inside of her body, not that we knew that. We named her Kagome."

Ryura's eyes were now wide as saucers. His look of astonishment didn't stop Touga from talking.

"I watched her grow up; watched her take her first steps, speak her first words, go to her first day of school. And then, Hitomi became pregnant again, this time with a boy we named Souta. On the day he was born, I gave Kagome a bracelet made of platinum and had engraved the words, 'My daughter, my world. My moon and stars. I will always protect you.' I gave it to her and a few weeks later, I went out to buy a present for Hitomi. On my way back, I wasn't paying attention. I was distracted, there were people everywhere and it had started raining. I didn't know what happened. All I remember is this blinding pain unlike anything I had ever felt before." Touga was now slipping into more modern speech, sounding more and more like Kagome with each passing second.

When he looked at Ryura, he noticed that Touga's eyes had changed. They were now blue and a perfect mirror image of Kagome's.

"I was hit by a car. A car is a large, heavy, chunk of metal made for transporting humans around. Think of a horse drawn carriage without the horse, but with some holding the ability travel faster than any youkai known to exist. I died shortly after that. I left Kagome alone. I left Souta behind, just as I left Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru behind. I'm grateful I ascended, because I don't know if I could bear living with this curse I have where I always seem to die and leave my children behind when they need me the most, Ryura. It's happened so many times in so many of my lives that I've lost count, but for some reason Kagome's life is the only one I can interfere with. She _will _be protected." Touga finished, breathing heavily as he tried to regain his legendary control.

"I understand now, Touga." Ryura said, dropping any hint of a title or honorific. He was speaking to Touga, his god-father, not Touga the Kami. "But I do not think you will have to fear me breaking her heart. Kagome and I aren't courting."

"Things happen, Ryura. Everything is possible, nothing is forbidden. The heart is fickle, but when it finds its mate, the one it is meant to be with, it never waivers." He looked at Ryura for a long moment then said, "And you, boy, need to learn to control yourself. Kagome begged for you to be spared when she realized you fought that many youkai, and she begged us to spare you when you disappeared. You need to find a release, and you need to do so quickly – you cannot run away anymore."

Touga paused and looked Ryura directly in the eyes, "If she pleads for your life and you are simply an acquaintance of hers, imagine what she would do for you if she comes to love you – this is why you _must _not break her heart, else I will destroy you for you will destroy her. If you wish to have nothing to do with her, then I suggest you leave her now before she becomes more attached to you than she already has."

Touga rumbled out a gruff farewell and with that, he was gone.

Before Ryura could properly react, he felt himself being ripped away from the void, and reappeared in the exact spot he left, and again with no fanfare or magical sparks. He faded into existence just had he had faded before Touga pulled him away to talk to him. At his feet, he saw Kagome laying on the ground.

He knelt down close to her and reached out his hand, placing the back of it against her forehead. Satisfied she wasn't feverish, Ryura gathered her in his arms, tucked her against his armor covered chest, and began to walk in the direction of Kaede's village that he passed over numerous times during his search for Naraku.

All the while his mind was repeating his conversation with Touga like a mantra, the last part specifically. "If you wish to have nothing to do with her, then I suggest you leave her now..."

Sighing, Ryura looked down to the woman in his arms. He, like most youkai with a coherent mind, found it difficult to express how he truly felt, even to himself in the dark corners of his mind. They let their instincts guide them and show them the proper path to take. Ones who did not, ended up like he used to be while leading the Four War Gods – a dark, twisted creature with no light left within their souls.

He could feel the light returning to his soul. The process was slow, of course, and he had many times mentally berated himself for some of his thoughts. Touga was correct in his statement that he needed to find a release. He needed to find some way to help him control himself, else he was going to die. Permanently.


	11. Chapter 11: Panic

Chapter 11:

Panic

"She had a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, like when you're swimming and you want to put your feet down on something solid, but the water's deeper than you think and there's nothing there."  
― Julia Gregson_, East of the Sun _

* * *

Ryura walked through the forest, expertly moving over fallen logs or other things that might trip a person up. The only sounds which greeted his ears were those of the wildlife and Kagome's soft breathing. What was he going to do? He had taken Touga's words to heart, but his advice had left him nothing except confusion. Was he to abandon her, and not even form a friendship with her if he felt he couldn't love her? Or was he supposed to attempt to love her, just so he could remain as her friend, or at least an ally?

As he moved, his mind wandered even further and he thought on the pack Kagome traveled with. If Touga's warning and advice meant what he thought it did, then that would mean no male would ever be allowed to travel with Kagome if they couldn't romantically become involved with her. No, that couldn't be what his advice meant. Miroku traveled with the Miko, and Sesshoumaru seemed to hold a respect for her he would normally never grant a human. He didn't include Inuyasha, since the hanyou had already hurt her in the past.

If he had a free hand, Ryura would've face-palmed.

Friendship, love, family. There wasn't just one form of caring for a person; the ways to love a person were endless. In the short amount of time he knew them, Ryura could tell Sango loved Kagome as if they had been born sisters. The Kitsune was another example of this different types of love. Kagome was not his real mother, but he looked at her like one. She was his world, and without it Ryura was sure that world would fall apart, just as his own had.

Touga wanted Ryura to love Kagome as a friend; a companion. He wanted her heart to have a soft place to land when the world became too much, and he didn't want her to be betrayed by someone she cared for. Kagome's heart was vast and she never closed it off. Each person she grew close to she loved in various ways. Sango as a sister, Shippou as a son, Miroku as a wayward and perverted brother – as wrong as that felt to think. She loved and trusted Sesshoumaru as a confidant, Rin as perhaps a daughter. Inuyasha, however, was the one who held the largest portion of her heart reserved for the one she wanted to be with. To marry and have children with. Perhaps even form a Soul Bond with, since Inuyasha was half youkai.

Ryura realized that Touga had simply wanted to warn him should he come to be one of those Kagome held close to her heart, in whichever way, that he should take care not to abuse her trust. He was to care for her as if she was his family. To support her when she needed it, and he knew Kagome would do the same for him. She already had, pleading for his life when she thought his soul was about to be obliterated.

He smiled faintly and went back to focusing on where he was going. He couldn't help but wonder though what exactly Inuyasha had done to upset Touga. Choosing to be with another, even if they were made from clay – Ryura shuddered at the thought – shouldn't be that big of a sin. It happened everyday and to damn Inuyasha for it would be hypocritical when Touga himself had done the exact same thing to Lady Inukimi, when he had taken Izayoi for a wife and sired Inuyasha.

Perhaps, he thought, one day someone would enlighten him and finally he would be able to put his curiosity over the situation to rest. Until then, however, he would only observe the hanyou carefully and see if he could figure it out on his own if no one felt like telling him. Ryura wasn't usually one to pry into the private lives of others, considering he had no idea what to do himself if he had a relationship, but he couldn't help but be curious.

In his arms Kagome began to twitch and he glanced down at her while stepping over a good sized rock. Her cheeks were flushed but she didn't seem to have a fever. He leaned down slightly and sniffed, then pulled back and muttered incoherently. Her illness seemed to be quickly vanishing, leaving Ryura at a loss. What was wrong? People didn't normally twitch as much as she was, nor did their face flush for no reason.

He noticed the bits of blood on her lips and instantly came to a halt. Ryura's feet felt like they were trapped in stone. He couldn't move them. His arms felt weak and he was forced to lower himself into a kneeling position to carefully lay Kagome down before he dropped her. What had he done?

Kagome twitching became more sporadic. Her head jerked to the side quickly and her legs began to shake. If she was coherent, she'd be able to tell Ryura that what he was seeing was called a seizure in her era, but since she wasn't, Ryura began to freak out. Looking down to his hands he saw blood that was quickly drying covering his claws and finger tips. He remembered trying to get Kagome to stop chewing on her lip, but she must have done it again when he wasn't looking. It was the only way she would have been able to ingest his blood.

Youkai blood, Dragon Youkai blood to be more specific, wasn't mean for human consumption – hell it wasn't even meant for youkai consumption! It was poisonous and so far no remedy for it had been found. It was up to Kagome now, and her reiki, to decide if she lived or not.

Dear Kami above, Touga was going to _kill _him.

Ryura pushed against her with his youki in an attempt to get her reiki to come to life. It quickly responded with an angry crackle along her skin. When Ryura was satisfied he reigned in his youki. Now all he could do was watch and wait.

Kagome began to thrash violently, forcing Ryura to pin her down by her arms. When her lower body started making up the lack of thrashing from her upper body, Ryura was actually forced into the embarrassing position of hovering over her and pinning her legs with his and her arms with his hands. His bare hands were smoking now because her crackling reiki, but if it kept Kagome from injuring herself, he could put up with it.

If someone came across them, which was unlikely, they would have either seen a blood covered youkai trying to do something horrible to a human woman, or they would have seen Ryura's horrified and flustered face and quickly lost themselves to laughter because of the hilarious way he was looking at the woman under him.

Gasping loudly and her eyes opening, Kagome woke with a start, her body stilling. She panted with the exertion of using her power to the point she had. Besides feeling drained, Kagome felt a lot better considering not more than five or so hours before, she felt like she was on her death bed.

And then she noticed Ryura over her, staring at her with wide eyes and looking like he wanted to crawl under the nearest rock. Kagome took a mental picture of the look on his face and quietly filed it in her brain under "this is what embarrassed looks like." The look was apparently contagious, because soon enough Kagome found herself with a blushing face all the way to her ears and shoulders.

"You... um, Ryura?" she squeaked.

The Dragon Daiyoukai shot up from his position and was three feet away from her before Kagome could finish blinking. He glanced at her but quickly looked away, turning his back on her and mumbling an apology.

Damnit, he was a Dragon Daiyoukai, Patriarch of one of the oldest noble Houses to exist in Nippon, former General of the Four War Gods – murderer extraordinaire – and Lord over the Eastern Lands of Nippon, but here he was, blushing and sputtering like an embarrassed child. He didn't know whether to be mortified or just give up and let Touga take him.

Kagome slowly rose to her feet and awkwardly twisted her foot around in the dirt. Well, that had been an experience and a half. She folded her arms over her stomach and lowered her gaze to look at her foot still twisting away. She knew why Ryura was holding her down. While it might not have seemed like it, she was aware of what was going on while she was having the seizure and had came to the same conclusion Ryura had; she must have ingested his blood that was left behind from before. Even with as little as Kagome knew about youkai, she knew that Dragon youkai blood was deadly at best.

"Come on," Ryura said after a few more minutes of embarrassed silence. "Your village is close."

With that said he walked ahead of her and she quickly scrambled to catch up to him while brushing dirt and leaves off of herself. Her arms went to fold behind her back as she walked, her eyes watching the braid his hair was in sway back and forth.

"Why do most youkai I've met have long hair?" She suddenly asked. "You, Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru, Tsuyoshi, and the Phoenix in the War Gods. Even Kouga and Naraku have long hair. I think the only ones I've seen without long hair are that Tiger you were with on Horai Island and Ginta and Hakkaku."

"The Phoenix was Kyora and the Tiger, Jura. I'm not for sure who Kouga, Ginta, and Hakkaku are, but generally youkai with long hair hold some position of political power," Ryura replied. Speaking about something other than his embarrassed state was fine with him. Didn't mean he could look her in the eyes yet, but he could talk now. He kept his gaze forward as he walked, not looking back to Kagome once.

He heard Kagome hum thoughtfully then say, "Huh, I guess that makes sense. Ginta once called Kouga a Prince. Sesshoumaru is a Lord, Inuyasha is the son of the Inu no Taisho and a Princess, Izayoi. You're a Lord. But Tsuyoshi and Kyora? What are their positions?"

"On top of being a water Dragon Daiyoukai, Tsuyoshi was my sire's General, now my Steward until I can build an army. Kyora was the son of a delegate from China," the Dragon said with a nod. "Youkai females generally do the same things, and from what I understand humans are the same way."

"Naraku's body _is _the corpse of a warlord, so I think we can safely assume that humans practice the same." Kagome had sped up to walk alongside Ryura, though she found she couldn't look at him either.

"Miko wear their hair long, as well. To see yours as short as it is, is a bit surprising," Ryura mumbled with a small glance in her direction. "The clothing you wore when I first met you do not denote you a Miko, either, but rather a..." he trailed off, not wanting to offend her.

"A what?" Kagome asked almost pleadingly. She always wondered how people looked to her, but she was too afraid to ask before now.

She had seen looks people would give her whenever she would pass them on the road as she traveled, or how some women would give her disgusted looks while in villages that weren't Kaede's. Whenever she tried to ask Inuyasha or Sango why that was, her throat would constrict painfully and she wouldn't be able to get the question out of her mouth.

Ryura sighed through his nose and prepared himself for Kagome to burst a blood vessel, "A prostitute. You dress as if you were a prostitute."

Instead of anger like he expected, Kagome's pace slowed down until she stopped walking altogether. Ryura stopped as well and turned back to look at her. Her head was bowed and he couldn't see her face, but he could smell salt on the air.

Wonderful, just wonderful. He made her cry.

"S-so is that why Jaken... Always calls me a whore?" She whispered.

Oh, well. Ryura had dug his grave, now he had to lie in it. He squared his shoulders and nodded once, "Yes, it is."

"And why Inuyasha sometimes runs off men when we have to stop at a village?" She asked next.

"Most likely. Inu have a strong sense of smell, more powerful than any other youkai. He was possibly able to smell the male's want for you," Ryura mumbled loud enough for her to hear.

Kagome looked up to him then and she held a hard look in her eyes. "Because you've saved me twice so far, I think I owe you an explanation. You're a Lord. If I'm seen as a whore, it won't do your reputation any good if you're seen with me. I don't want to harm Sesshoumaru's reputation either."

"Kagome, my reputation isn't really the greatest-" he was quickly cut off.

"No, I want to, so please, let me." She said.

Ryura nodded jerkily. If that's what she wanted, who was he to really try and stop her?

"Where I come from, what I wore when you first met me was my school uniform. For people my age it can be considered formal wear," she began. "When I first arrived in this era, I didn't know what was going on. I wasn't even aware I had the Shikon no Tama inside of me, or that I was a Miko."

Kagome paused to step slightly closer to him so she wouldn't have to speak so loudly.

"You see, in my era youkai don't exist. They're myths. I've never felt another youkai's presence besides Inuyasha's when he comes with me. I had no idea what Inuyasha was when I first met him, when I released him from the seal Kikyou placed him under fifty years ago," Kagome said then turned her head upwards to look at the moonlight cracking through the treetops.

She inhaled deeply before continuing. "I was given a Miko uniform after a battle, when the Shikon no Tama was ripped from my side. My shirt was torn and bloody, so Kaede had me take a bath and put on the red hakama and white haori. The response I got from Inuyasha is one I never want to get again. He told me to take it off, because I looked too much like Kikyou; that it reminded him too much of her."

"He compared you to her, didn't he?" Ryura asked, and Kagome nodded.

"He has, and still does sometimes. Since I'm her reincarnation, he's pretty disappointed that I'm not just like her." Kagome was looking away again, staring up at the trees. "He thinks I should have been born knowing how to fire a bow as well as she can, how to use my reiki as well as she can, and know exactly what she did. He expected me to act like her, and when I didn't, he had a problem with it – mind you, this was a long time ago now. But every now and then, when I miss my target, I catch him looking at me with that _same _look. It's like his eyes are screaming at me that Kikyou would have made the shot."

Ryura moved to stand beside her and he too looked up at the moonlight. With his arms folded over his chest, his elbow was slightly brushing against Kagome's arm. "Have you ever been trained to use a bow?" He tried to keep the anger out of his voice, but he failed miserably. Now he understood why Touga had been so angry with Inuyasha.

"No. I'm flying by the seat of my pants," Kagome admitted, ignoring the anger in Ryura's voice. "And now I have the Sacred Longbow of Mount Azusa. I don't know what I'm doing half of the time with it. I just follow what my heart tells me to do."

"Do you want to learn?"

Kagome looked at him with seriousness and nodded, "I always have, ever since I found out I would be fighting while here. Just..."

"Inuyasha has never give you the chance to train." He finished for her. "Because he thinks you should already know what to do."

"Yeah. He thinks I'm lazy," Kagome muttered angrily. "I've been so tempted to just give up, tell Inuyasha that if he thinks Kikyou is better than I am, then he should have her track down the shards so I can go back home and stop ruining my life there."

"What do you mean?" Ryura asked with a confused expression.

"Everyone, no matter who they are, are given free education. Sure, there are private institutions, but your family has to have quite a bit of money to be able to attend. This education and how well we complete it follows us the rest of our lives, and because of that, our choices for jobs are either extremely limited or very open," Kagome explained. "Since I'm here fighting off Naraku and trying to gather together the jewel _I _broke, my education is slipping."

Ryura was silent to that, thinking over what she had said. Kagome was the one who broke the Shikon no Tama? His attention was returned to her when she began speaking again.

"My grandfather has had to come up with excuse after excuse to explain why I'm missing so many days of school. I'm pretty sure half of my teachers think I'm on my death bed because grandpa got a hold of a medical reference book awhile back," she said with a chuckle. "But we've had it set up where as long as I do the assignments and try to make it to class for tests, that my situation will be treated as if I'm home-schooled, or taught from home by either a tutor or my mother. And yet again, whenever I _have to _go home for those tests, Inuyasha thinks I'm being lazy and skipping out on my duty as a 'shard detector', as he's called me."

Ryura bristled at that. Inuyasha just wasn't rude, he was apparently stupid, too. Kagome was sacrificing her life in her birth era to put back together the Shikon no Tama and help her friends defeat Naraku, and Inuyasha had the gall to go and treat her as he did?

"Kagome," Ryura said to gain her attention when he settled down. She turned her eyes on him and waited with her head tilted to one side.

"I am going to be perfectly blunt. Inuyasha is an idiot. A crass, boorish idiot. If you wish to be trained, I will train you myself. I'm not unfamiliar with a bow," he said evenly. "If you wish to return to your era to take the tests you spoke of, I will take you to the well. All you need to do is ask."

Kagome smiled brilliantly at him. "That's wonderful! Thank you so much, Ryura! I was planning on asking Kaede and Miroku to help with my reiki, anyway. If it wasn't for you forcing my reiki to act, I probably would have died back there. I don't have any control over it unless I'm firing an arrow."

"Y-you were aware of what was happening?" Ryura sputtered. That means she had been able to feel everything he did. His cheeks colored in a soft blush and he looked anywhere but at her.

Kagome nodded softly and the embarrassed silence returned until Ryura cleared his throat and moved his red gaze to her. "When we meet up with the others, I will speak with Tsuyoshi of your situation with your clothing. He is more familiar with feminine styles than I am, considering he dealt with my sire's court far more than I ever did as a child. That is, at least, if you will permit it."

"If it'll stop people from calling me a whore? Sure, go for it."

Ryura half-grinned at her and after a moment, they resumed walking. Kagome chattered away, telling him of her era and the advancements from the era they were currently in. She told him of previous adventures she had with her friends, and he found out that he was not the only one who attempted to kill her in the past. Every person she held dear was at one time an enemy.

When she started telling him of the first time Sesshoumaru tried to kill her, Ryura couldn't help but laugh.

"He was so angry when I popped out of his poison and started yelling at him!" Kagome exclaimed. "I don't think I've ever seen a person look so shocked and angry at the same time!"

"So that's what he meant by the only time you've ever held a sword was to taunt him!" Ryura roared between bouts of laughter. He never, ever thought that a human woman would be able to get the drop on Sesshoumaru.

Kagome laughed as well. "More than likely- wait he said I held a sword to taunt him? When?"

"He was telling me of how my swords chose a temporary master, but wouldn't say who, and made me understand that you were an archer and never held a sword except to taunt him with," Ryura explained once he stopped laughing.

Grinning now, Kagome shook her head. She did sort of taunt him with it, especially when she handed the Tessaiga to Inuyasha and told him to beat Sesshoumaru. That was probably a worse insult to Sesshoumaru that surviving his poison was.

"Kagome, why are you so...comfortable around me?" Ryura suddenly asked.

Kagome had been expecting a question like that. She stopped walking and tugged on the sleeve of his shirt until he turned to look at her.

"It's because you've saved me. You've saved me not once, but twice now, and I'd like to think I've helped you, even though it was a little bit," she answered with a smile.

Ryura chuckled softly and ran a hand through his bangs, "You have. I was debating on ripping apart Nippon until Naraku came out before you showed up. If you hadn't came when you did, I wouldn't be standing here now."

Kagome smiled a smile that was bright and dazzling, and as they resumed walking, Ryura felt himself smiling as well.


	12. Chapter 12: Rage and Death

Chapter 12:

The Rage and Death of the Dragon

"My armor is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, the shock of my tail a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane, and my breath death!"  
― J.R.R. Tolkien, _The Hobbit _

* * *

"We are close to the village, I can smell it." Ryura announced. Most human villages were awfully...vile in scent. It would have been hard for Ryura to miss it.

From the corner of her eye Kagome took in Ryura's appearance. He was still covered in blood. Seeing him would possibly scare the hair off of the villagers.

"Um, Ryura, I don't want to be rude, but if you were wanting to come with me, you might want to clean off first. You're kind of...scary looking," Kagome said with a nervous laugh.

He blinked and, for the first time since fighting Naraku, looked down at himself. She was right. His armor and clothing were stained with blood, as were his hands. Now that he was more aware of his appearance, he could feel dried blood on his face, neck, and when he raised a hand to his hair, he felt the crusty substance there, too.

Kami, he hated feeling _crusty_. He grumbled loudly and cursed. "Damnit. I guess I was really out of my mind not to notice how bad I looked," he said darkly.

"Well, it's not like you have a mirror or anything."

Ryura looked at her briefly, "No, but I should have smelt the blood."

Without speaking further Ryura's eyes closed and he tilted his head up, sniffing the air with a slightly twitching nose. He could smell the waters of a natural hotspring nearby.

"I will take you to the village's edge. When I am sure you are safe, I will leave," he said.

Kagome's eyes widened, "But you-"

"Will return after I and my belongings are free of blood." Ryura finished her sentence for her. Suddenly feeling a playful streak he grinned and slanted his eyes in her direction, "Unless you wish to come with me?"

Out of surprise she almost missed a step and fell flat on her face, but managed to grab onto the green dragonscaled gauntlet covering Ryura's left forearm. For what felt like the hundredth time that day, Kagome blushed and mumbled, "N-no, it's okay. I can wait."

Ryura grinned wider. "You are sure? I could use help washing my hair. After all, it is awfully long," his words were teasing. "Washing it by myself takes such a long time."

Realizing just what he was doing, Kagome smirked. "I guess I could come. I do love playing with hair, and Sesshoumaru nor Inuyasha never let me play with theirs. I've always wondered if a youkai's hair feels as soft as it looks."

Now it was Ryura's turn to sputter. He didn't expect her to agree!

Kagome laughed loudly and patted Ryura on the arm, "I'm joking, I'm joking. Go on, take as long as you need. I need to talk to Kaede anyway."

He released a breath he wasn't aware he was holding until then. While the idea of not having to wash his hair was appealing, he couldn't imagine how he would react if Kagome was the one who did it for him. He didn't act like himself whenever he was around her. But, then again, did he really _want _to act like himself? Ryura wasn't for sure what his real personality even was.

Was he the dark, violent Daiyoukai General of the Four War Gods, or...something else?

As they neared extremely close to the village, Ryura gave Kagome a light tap on the back to get her to move forward. "I'll be back soon, go on," he said with a smile.

"I'll see you later then! Be careful!" Kagome called out as she jogged towards the village.

She disappeared from his vision for a few minutes, concealed by the darkness of night, but thankfully he could still feel her aura. He waited until she was on the outskirts of the decently sized village, showing the prowess of its defenders just from the sheer size. When he saw her again he turned to leave but a curiosity struck him and he decided to hang around and watch.

With her form lightly outlined by the lanterns casting a warm glow over the village and its outskirts, Ryura saw farmers who had yet to finish their chores for the day stand up and wave at Kagome, calling her Miko-sama in the process. She slowed down to stop to talk to a woman and her child passing by on their way home for the night, when they were finished Kagome returned the small bow they gave her. When she finally disappeared into a hut, Ryura nodded to himself then turned to leave. It was still fairly early in the evening, considering, and he knew Kagome would be safe now inside of the village.

He was only able to make it a few steps before he turned back around when he heard Kagome yell Inuyasha's subjugation command loudly enough for even the farmers to look up in wonder. Ryura leaned against the nearest tree and watched as the screen to the hut billowed out violently, showing how hard Kagome had sat the hanyou.

She was back outside a little bit later, and boy did she look angry. Ryura could feel her anger from even his distance and he had to wonder just what Inuyasha did to deserve the sitting. Her aura was going absolutely crazy. Kagome stopped in the middle of the path and those passing by her gave her a wide birth. Her hands were clenched into fists at her sides, her shoulders hunched, and her feet were spread apart.

"RYUR-!" she was cut off by Inuyasha running out of the hut and grabbing her by the arm to yank her until she was facing him.

The hanyou looked far from happy, as well.

With his left foot, Ryura took one step forward. He was preparing to launch himself at the couple. Muscles coiling tighter and tighter along with his youki commanding the air around him to swirl at his feet, Ryura's body shook with the effort it was taking him to keep himself in place as he wound his body up. He began to shake even more to the point his armor was rattling against his frame once his red eyes took in the sight of Inuyasha taking hold of Kagome's other arm. The hanyou was shaking her slightly now and yelling words Ryura couldn't hear at this distance.

Beneath him the ground began to shake. Pebbles and smaller rocks bounced away from him due to the amount of power he was trapping inside his own body. Leaves were ripped from their branches from close by trees as the wind wrapping around Ryura began to blow with tornadic like winds.

He shot off from the ground like a rocket. The earth split apart, looking as if a meteor struck not too long ago, as all the pent up energy was released in one massive burst of youki.

Ryura was unable to stop himself from bouncing forward a few steps on one foot after landed and his fist connected with the side of Inuyasha's head. The hanyou was flying across the village at an alarming rate, stopping only when he crashed into the side of the hut. Debris and dirt were sent blooming into a cloud around the now destroyed hut.

The family inside had thankfully managed to run outside right before half of the hut collapsed inwards, landing heavily on Inuyasha's prone body. They were screaming as they ran half way around the hut to see what had caused their home's destruction. Their screams were only renewed with an increased volume when they saw Ryura standing off in the distance, covered in blood, and looking in their direction with the most intense look of murder and rage on his face.

Ryura ignored their screams and pivoted around to look down at Kagome. Her eyes were wide with both fear and anger, but at the same time unshed tears misted in her eyes. She had her arms wrapped around her shaking body, and with the way she was looking at him, Ryura could tell her anger and fear wasn't directed at him, but at Inuyasha.

"In-Inuyasha, he..." Kagome said between noiseless and tearless sobs, "He smelt you on me, and smelt your blood. I don't... I-Kami, he was so _angry_..." She trailed off and hiccuped. "He-he called me..." Kagome couldn't force the word to come. It was stuck in her throat, like a hard to swallow pill.

She didn't have to say much of anything else, for Ryura hear the underlying words in her voice that she just couldn't say. Inuyasha had apparently taken their mixed scents the wrong way, and went flying off the handle in his anger.

Ryura placed his hand softly on top of Kagome's head as he began to walk. He moved past her, his hand falling limp at his side when he was far enough away. His steps were heavy, breaking the ground beneath his feet, as he headed towards where the hanyou landed. Ryura was building the pressure of his youki within his body yet again, like he had before he arrived and sent Inuyasha half way across the village with a single hit.

He looked so calm it was almost scary considering how the elements around him were in pure and utter chaos. His feet sank deeper and deeper into the earth with every step he took, his rage bubbling up and over an invisible line not even he was aware he had until now. He was well past his limits, and it showed.

The whirlwind that had started to surround Ryura picked up pieces of the destroyed hut that had been thrown in random directions due to Inuyasha's impact and they were now flying about him as if he were an angry Mother Nature herself. Lightning crackled along his body, reaching out and touching anything that decided to come too close to Ryura's personal gale.

Inuyasha was just coming to consciousness and he shuddered with the amount of youki that pressed angrily down on him. His golden eyes, wide with some unknown emotion, took in Ryura's appearance, and that unknown emotion was quickly replaced with his own rage.

The hanyou tossed away what little debris was left and shot up to his feet, pulling Tessaiga from its sheath at the same time. The fang-blade made from his father's fang was willed to life, growing into the gleaming blade that was both famous and infamous, depending on who's side you were on.

"What the hell!?" He asked as he began to wave Tessaiga menacingly, almost tauntingly, in front of him, allowing it to pick up its own small gale around the blade.

The Dragon Daiyoukai didn't react nor did he respond to Inuyasha's question. He only kept moving forward at a slow, yet steady, pace. Not even Inuyasha's sudden and deafening snarl was enough to take Ryura's mind off of his task.

Inuyasha recognize the look Ryura was giving him. On Horai Island, the Dragon had stared at him much the same way. It was a look filled with disgust and rage. His eyes had darkened to a deep red and with the way his head was slightly bowed, his bangs cast a shadow over the glittering rubies of Ryura's eyes.

Oh, yes. Inuyasha had definitely seen this look before, but never had it been so intense.

Before Ryura could get too close to him, Inuyasha threw Tessaiga forward in a powerful arch. "Wind Scar!" he yelled, causing four glowing claw-like marks to shoot forth and rumble dangerously across the ground towards Ryura.

Ryura gathered the force of powerful winds around his right hand and once the Wind Scar was close enough he batted it to the side, out of his way, and sent it careening harmlessly between two huts.

"...you _have to _be kidding me!" Inuyasha yelled. "How the fuck did you do that!?"

Again his question went unanswered, but Ryura did finally speak. "If you wish to fight, Inuyasha, I suggest we take it outside of the village!" he retorted as he used the air billowing around Inuyasha from his own sword to pick Inuyasha up.

Ryura gave a jerk of his right hand and Inuyasha was streaking over the top of the village, heading straight for an open clearing not too far outside the outskirts.

Kagome watched on, her mouth agape. It quickly shut when Ryura pushed off the ground and was following after Inuyasha.

"Ryura, no! It's okay! I was just upset, it'll pass!" she yelled after his flying figure.

As he passed over her head, Ryura turned his angry gaze to her. "Not right now, Kagome!" he snapped loudly. "I'm going to rip that foul tongue of his from his mouth!"

"Child, what is going on!?" Kaede asked as she exited her hut.

"Oooohhhhh!" Kagome huffed loudly, angry beyond belief now. "Inuyasha was being an idiot again, and now there's someone who's tired of his mouth, apparently!"

Kaede gave her a startled, confused look, but it didn't seem Kagome was paying attention. She was stomping angrily away and Kaede just sighed and decided to go about calming down the villagers.

In the clearing, Ryura landed on Inuyasha's chest, giving the hanyou no mercy. He would learn to act properly or Ryura would send him to Touga to let _him_ deal with his asshole of a son.

Inuyasha coughed harshly, blood flying from his lips with the impact of Ryura's dark blue boot clad feet against his chest. Between the crunching sound and pain in his chest, Inuyasha could tell a few ribs were broken. Below him the ground gave way and he was laying in a crater as if Kagome had sat him. With an angry growl he swung Tessaiga at Ryura, only for it be deflected by one of the Dragon Daiyoukai's large blades that were now drawn and gripped tightly in his hands.

He forced Ryura off of him and was on his feet as Kagome arrived. She yelled for them to stop, and Inuyasha responded by growling out "Back the fuck off!"

A sword came within a hair's width of his face and Inuyasha backpedaled away.

"What the fuck is your problem, ya bastard!" he yelled once he was stationary again. Blood trickled down the side of his face, showing Ryura had swung the sword fast and hard enough that the air itself had cut him instead of the blade itself.

"My problem?" Ryura raised a sword and pointed it at Inuyasha. "My _problem_ is you, hanyou!"

He sprang forward and thus began the battle with both Inuyasha and Ryura parrying one another's attacks. It was almost an exact copy of their second battle on Horai Island, except Ryura was moving much more quickly, as was Inuyasha. The Dragon was forced to step to the side when Inuyasha released another Wind Scar.

Then his eyes widened in horror. The Wind Scar was heading right for Kagome and it didn't look like she would be able to get out of the way in time. Ryura quickly tossed Fujinga in her direction with a powerful throw. Kagome cried out and watched as not only the Wind Scar, but Ryura's sword headed directly for her.

"Protect her, Fujinga!" He yelled. "_Dragon Gale_!"

The sword sparked to life and once it landed, embedded deep within the earth, an explosion of wind burst forth and surrounded Kagome protectively in a dorm of visible air. Dragon Gale Ryura's most powerful defensive technique. The Wind Scar was forced to part down the middle and split off to the sides around Kagome.

Behind him, Inuyasha began to cackle.

"I didn't think you were this big of an idiot!" the hanyou roared as he lifted Tessaiga up above his head.

Tessaiga pulsed once. It was a dangerous and low pulse that Ryura could feel echoing in his very soul. Curious now, Ryura watched as Tessaiga took on dark green _dragon scales_, a growl emitting from his throat as a dark aura began to leak from the fang-blade. Inuyasha's eyes were searching for something, and when they found it, Ryura saw a triumphant grin spread its way across the hanyou's face.

Ryura was tempted to jump back and grab Fujinga, but not knowing what the attack was, he didn't dare get too close to Kagome. Instead, just as the energy from Tessaiga was released, Ryura held his arms up in front of his chest, forearms crossing, and he willed a bit of his youki in the scaled gauntlets he wore. They came to life, spreading quickly over his hands to form Dragon-like claws. Without Fujinga to protect himself from attacks such as these, his gauntlets were the next best thing.

"Inuyasha, sit!" he heard Kagome yell out from behind him, possibly in an attempt to make the Tessaiga's attack veer of course, but it was far too late for that. Ryura realized this when Kagome let out a strangled, horrified wail.

What exactly was this attack to have Kagome _that _worried?

"Tch..." Ryura grunted and was forced back a few feet as he began to battle against the energy as it rammed itself into his body.

The energy flowing from Tessaiga was black as night with neon purple mixed within. It was unlike anything Ryura had ever felt before; he didn't know what to make of it. When he noticed the white of his youki leaking from his body, Ryura knew then that this was not a good attack to be trying to fend off.

As fast as the attack started it ended with the dark energy of Tessaiga's attack flowing back into the blade, taking Ryura's youki with it.

A coldness spread itself through his body, and Ryura suddenly found it extremely hard to breathe. Behind him he heard Kagome starting to move, but he took a shuddering breath and quietly commanded Fujinga, still protruding from the earth, to keep her away. It readily obeyed him, wrapping Dragon Gale around Kagome and keeping her locked in place. Neither of them wanted her too close to the fight, especially not with how unknown Inuyasha's attack was.

Ryura barely registered Inuyasha leaving his spot, the massive amount of energy still swirling about his blade, to take to the air directly above the Dragon Daiyoukai.

And then that's when he felt it. Pain. Agonizing, horrible, _terrifying _pain ripped through his body. He couldn't feel anything else besides that pain, and a roar filled his ears, the roar of a canine; of Tessaiga, that drowned out all sounds around him. He couldn't hear Kagome screaming for him to let her go, that she could help. He didn't hear her yell Inuyasha's subjugation command.

All at once everything stopped. The energy exploded around him, dissipating into nothing. Cold returned to his body with fervor and he was forced down on a knee with Raijinga in his left hand; the sword had become his crutch. He felt his heart beat slow to a crawl, and with every weakening beat it gave, he felt weaker and weaker. He felt blood flow down his right arm and he knew then that Inuyasha had landed a hit. His only question was why did it feel like Inuyasha had struck him in the heart, rather than just the shoulder?

"Sit! Sit sit sitsitsitsit!" Kagome screamed at Inuyasha. The hanyou bounced up and down until finally he settled and was pinned for a good long while.

With a long groan, Kagome worked Fujinga from the earth. It was freed with a soft pop, causing Kagome to stumble back a few steps, but when she found her footing, she ran for the pair ahead of her, dragging Fujinga behind her. It was pulsing with an urgency to get back to Ryura.

She skidded to a halt and purposely feel on her knees to slide herself the few short inches to Ryura. He was tipping over to the side, and Kagome caught him just in time before he fell roughly on the ground. Fujinga had been dropped behind her, and with both of the swords close, they began to release the youki that they had absorbed over the years from Ryura, and _made _it enter their master's body.

The swords were sentient, able to form their own thoughts, and they were far from stupid. Both they, and Ryura, now realized that the attack Inuyasha used had destroyed Ryura's youketsu, the source of a youkai's youki – their very life source. It was like the rechargeable battery of a toy, and that battery had just been split in half.

Kagome slowly lowered Ryura until he was laying on the ground. She was sweating now with the effort it took to keep herself from dropping Ryura. His body weight mixed with his armor was not a good combination for her. She wouldn't have let him down but he was so _cold _she felt like she was going to freeze to death.

He was freezing and sweating at the same time, too, which was never a good sign.

The Miko moved his now wet with sweat bangs from his forehead as his swords continued to pump what youki they had into him. His eyes were wide open, and staring at nothing, until she came into his line of sight. Worry filled his red eyes then and he made an effort to get up. His teeth and fangs clenching together, he managed to rise up on an arm, against Kagome's protests.

"K-kag...ome," he forced out. "Ge...get..."

Kagome was crying and somehow forced him to lay back down; he was just that weak.

"Why did you do that? You could've defended yourself!" she scolded. Despite her crying and shaking body, she was still angry that he had tossed away his strongest means of defense in favor for her.

"Prot..protect," he said with a soft chuckle that sounded almost like a gurgle. Turns out it wasn't too far from a gurgle. As he tried to laugh blood trickled from the corners of his mouth and out of his nose. He was drowning in his own blood.

Kagome watch with horror as his skin began to pale, hair turning to an ashen, sickly color of blue, and his eyes dimmed into a deep burgundy color. His body was starting to give out on him, and the youki his swords were giving him was seemingly the only thing keeping him conscious.

She snapped her head up and glared over at the hanyou still face first in the ground. "Inuyasha, look at me!" she hissed out.

Inuyasha's head weakly rose and his beads started to glow around his neck, showing Kagome her subjugation was still in effect. When his gold eyes met hers she glared at him and ask, "Where is Sesshoumaru? We need Tenseiga!"

"With the others back at camp," he growled out "Y'know, where they're still sitting and wondering if you're even _alive_."

"Shut up! Now is not the time for that!" she snapped at him. "How far away is it? Could he hear me if I yelled?"

Inuyasha gave a bitter grumble and nodded.

"Good. Sit!" Kagome barked. Inuyasha cursed loudly before he was forced into yet again a prone position.

Looking down at Ryura she smiled shakily and cupped his cheeks in his hands. Just by looking at him Kagome knew she didn't have much time. Sliding her hands over to cover Ryura's pointed ears she prepared him for what she was about to do.

Kagome threw her head back, sucked in a deep breath of air, and _screamed _for Sesshoumaru. The air around her tingled with her reiki as she forced her powers into her voice while belting out the cry for help, _**"Sesshoumaru! I need you! Please, Sesshoumaru, hurry!"**_

Her voice was so loud Inuyasha began to whimper over in his crater. His ears twitched violently before slamming down on his head as far as they could. How had she made her voice so loud? This was insane!

Off in the distance, both Inuyasha and Kagome could feel Sesshoumaru's youki swell to a height they had only felt once before. A howl of an enraged canine shook the earth, rumbling the ground beneath them. Kagome looked up and watched with astonishment as a giant silver-white dog galloped towards her. His figure was still small in the distance, but she could immediately tell it was Sesshoumaru, and he was running as fast as he could in giant leaps across the sky.

He landed right over top of them, blocking out the sun and knocking Kagome over into Ryura's chest. Sprawled across Ryura, Kagome missed Sesshoumaru's transformation, but she could feel the heat of his youki licking at her back. It burned like fire and Kagome whimpered in pain. Below her she felt Ryura tense up. Slowly his left hand raised, shaking all the while, to rest on top of hers on his chest.

"Kagome," Sesshoumaru said as he knelt down beside her. She could hear the unspoken question.

Unable to rid herself of the feeling of how powerful Sesshoumaru's youki felt, she could only gasp for air and croak out, "Dragon-scaled... Inuyasha... Sit!"

Sesshoumaru shot a glare over to his half-breed half-brother as the hanyou rose up in the air and slammed back down again. The impact was so hard it rendered Inuyasha unconscious.

"Move," he snapped as he turned back to Kagome and Ryura. "There is only one way to save him, else not even Tenseiga will be able to bring him back."

Kagome nodded as she carefully moved off of Ryura's chest. The Dragon Daiyoukai's hand fell limp to the ground without Kagome's around it to keep it in place. The movement made Kagome sob loudly. Never had she seen him this weak since she first met him all those months ago on Horai Island, not even when his power was fading without the sphere in his forehead.

Sesshoumaru scowled and helped Kagome to her feet. When she was up he wrapped his arm around her waist and quickly jumped backwards, then he let her go. She sank slowly to her knees and gripped at the material of her pants, balling it into her fists.

She watched Sesshoumaru jump back over to Ryura and reenter a kneeling position. Kagome could see Sesshoumaru's mouth moving, but she was too far away to hear what he was saying, and she was horrible at reading lips. Continuing to watch, she saw Sesshoumaru raise his only hand and plunge it into Ryura's chest, where his heart would be.

Kagome screamed, but quickly muffled it by covering her mouth. She had to trust Sesshoumaru. He knew what he was doing, at least that's what she told herself. Youki began to leak from Sesshoumaru's form and travel down his arm, into Ryura's heart.

An agonized and haggard yell ripped from Ryura's throat. The pain was apparently so great for him that even in his weakened state his body slightly rose off the ground and his head tilted back. Kagome could see his eyes, wide and staring at her, and he continued to scream. Sesshoumaru didn't relent. More and more of Sesshoumaru's red youki was pumped into Ryura's body.

Kagome choked back a sob and lowered her hands until her fingertips were resting on her chin. She gave him the best smile she could at the moment and said, "It'll be okay. When you're better, I really will wash your hair for you."

Her voice was low, barely above a whisper, yet even so, Kagome somehow knew he could hear her.

Slowly, too slowly in Kagome's option, Ryura's hair took on its normal blue hue and the color returned to his face, but he still continued to scream. Sesshoumaru's face was the picture perfect look of concentration; his brows drawn together, eyes staring unwaveringly at what he was doing, and he held a small frown on his lips.

When Kagome looked back to Ryura, she saw faint marks begin to form on the sides of his face and on his forehead. On each cheekbone a slightly curved blue line, just a tad darker than his hair, faded into view. The mark on his forehead was a smaller version of the blue diamond that used to rest there when he was the General of the Four War Gods.

His face had now contorted into one of pain instead of shock. Teeth clenching together and eyes closing tightly, he bit back his scream. With a flare of bright light, his returning youki burst from his body like a raging inferno. Wind swirled around Ryura and Sesshoumaru then and sent the youki tumbling around them like a tornado. Fujinga and Raijinga were picked up like pebbles and joined in with the youki-tornado, spinning faster and faster until they were nothing but a blur to the human eye.

The youki spread out across the clearing, lighting everything in its path up with a white fire that, for some reason, didn't burn. It wound around anything it came in contact with, climbing up nearby trees like a ladder. Even Inuyasha was caught within the white flames.

Kagome, her eyes wide, too was bathed in the light, engulfing her completely. Where she expected heat, she felt cold air wind its way around her and she shivered. Her reiki was trying to come to life but she forced it back down, too afraid to let it go in case it screwed up what Sesshoumaru was doing.

The youki kept poking and prodding at her, taunting her powers to the surface against her will. Pink soon mingled with white and ahead of her, Kagome noticed Sesshoumaru's red youki was bleeding into Ryura's white fire-like youki as well, and he seemed to be letting go, allowing it to do what it wished with his youki. Off to the side golden light drifted from Inuyasha's body, mimicking the movements of Sesshoumaru's youki.

Kagome smiled slightly and let go, just as Sesshoumaru had. It wasn't going to hurt her or him, or any of the others. Ryura's youki was simply tugging on any power nearby to help with his recovery.

Pink, red, and gold swirled together in the tornado of Ryura's youki, moving downwards until it entered the wound Sesshoumaru created to save the Dragon Daiyoukai.

As quickly as the phenomenon began it ended with little grandeur, causing Ryura's swords to fall to the ground and bury themselves up to the hilts in the dirt. Every trace of the four beings' power disappeared into thin air. Sesshoumaru finally removed his hand from Ryura's chest, only to grab the arm Ryura had raised shortly after the combined powers vanished. With their hands clasping the others forearm, Sesshoumaru rose to his feet and pulled Ryura with him. The wound on his chest was rapidly closing, thankfully, so the movements didn't hurt as much as they did when the clawed hand of Sesshoumaru was first jammed into it. His armor, however, was not as lucky.

Another sob from Kagome gained both of the Daiyoukai's attention. Sesshoumaru looked up, over Ryura's shoulder as the Dragon turned to peer at the Miko. Ryura grinned and Kagome cried harder.

He was _alive_. Sesshoumaru had somehow restored Ryura's youketsu.

"Oi!" Ryura yelled over to Kagome, "You better have been serious about washing my hair! I don't think I'll have the energy to do it after all this!"

Behind him, he could have sworn he _felt _Sesshoumaru rolling his eyes.

Kagome almost choked, then released a watery laugh. She rose up on shaking legs and cupped her hands around her mouth to yell, "If you have enough energy to be a smart ass you have enough energy to wash your hair!"

Ryrua laughed and waved her over. The grin remained on his face until she was standing beside him, when he completely dropped his aloof attitude and turned back to Sesshoumaru. His head bowed then and he said, "Thank you, Sesshoumaru, for saving my life."

"It would be a pity for you to die before you were given enough time for the Kami to judge you properly," Sesshoumaru said evenly. "Be grateful to the woman beside you, instead. If not for her I would have never known."

And with that Sesshoumaru stalked over to Inuyasha, lifted him up by the back of his haori, and without a word to the other two standing behind him, he dragged Inuyasha off in the direction of the village.

"So, about washing my hair..." Ryura teased.

Kagome half grinned. "Fine, fine. You win. There's a hot spring close by."

Ryura grinned as well, in triumph and followed after Kagome as she started walking. His movements were slow and stiff, and his chest still hurt, but he could feel his body quickly healing. By the time they reached the hot springs the pain should fade.

* * *

A.N.: I just wanted to say that the inspiration from this story came from solely from a song! Shards of Light by Arn Anderson. I listened to it the entire time I was writing this chapter.


	13. Chapter 13: Rise

Chapter 13:

Rise

"You don't get drown by falling into a river. You get drown by remaining there. Falling accidentally and rising immediately was what distinguished Thomas Edison and Abraham Lincoln from the rest."  
― Israelmore Ayivor

* * *

Kagome nervously bit her nails and somewhere in her head she could hear Ryura groaning. She had given up one bad habit for another.

Why was she chewing her nails? Because not more than ten feet away from the tree she was hiding behind, Kagome could hear the scraping of armor being taken off and the soft rustling of silk being discarded. The splashing of water next, followed by a small yelp at the heat of the water, had Kagome almost in a panic.

When she said she would wash his hair, Kagome had no idea she'd actually have to stay around for him to bathe first, hence why she was hiding behind a tree.

"Oh come on, Kagome. This water is so foggy you can't see anything!" Ryura called out.

"Nope! Not doing it!" Kagome retorted.

She heard Ryura grumble, "But I need someone to toss my armor to me. I can't reach it from here, and it's hard to see!"

Kagome groaned loudly and slouched. "Whatever. Fine, I'll hand you your stupid armor!"

She stomped out from behind the tree, swallowed the lump in her throat, and made her way over to the edge of the springs. Turns out he was right. The water, and the air around the hot springs, was so foggy you really couldn't see anything. She stumbled through the fog until her left foot lightly tapped against one of Ryura's discarded arm guards.

Looking down to the pile of armor and the bloody clothing next to it, Kagome felt her earlier panic return. She looked up as the water splashed, a squeak escaping her.

"I should probably wash the arm and shoulder guards first. Dragon scales and hide are hard to clean, despite popular belief," she heard Ryura say. He was getting closer! "Hence why I will never bathe while in my true form once I obtain it – talk about a nightmare."

A clawed hand, wrist decorated with curved blue stripes, shot out of the fog and did the 'gimme' motion. Kagome swallowed hard again and clumisly picked up one of the arm guards; by the look of it, it was the left one. She shoved the guard at Ryura who muttered in thanks.

As she waited for him to finish cleaning the guard, Kagome noticed she was sweating from the sheer heat emitting from the hot springs. After this, she was going to need a bath, too. Four days of being sick on top of all the crap she put up with since coming back had to leave her smelling awful.

All of the sudden, the now clean left arm guard was tossed onto the edge of the hot springs, landing with a loud thud beside Kagome. The clawed hand popped back out of the fog, and repeated the motions from before. This time Kagome handed Ryura his right arm guard.

Time passed by quickly with Kagome handing Ryura pieces of his armor. The chest piece she had to drag across the ground due to its weight, but by the end, every piece of his armor and clothing was clean – Kagome wasn't aware that you could wash silk like he had. Maybe it wasn't really silk?

As Ryura went about washing himself, Kagome laid out the clothing on nearby boulders to help them dry, and spread out his armor along the ground for the same reasons.

"I hope this fog isn't too thick for you, so you can actually see my hair to wash it," Ryura said, and Kagome jumped slightly.

"Yeah, hopefully!" She laughed nervously.

Hearing the water move, showing Ryura was coming closer again, Kagome stopped breathing out of nervousness. She saw his hands first, and her eyes followed his arms as the fog slowly revealed them. Ryura's hands landed on the edge of the hot springs and he leant forward, a grin on his face.

"Ready?" He asked. Kagome could only nod dumbly and reach for her bag.

Ryura looked at the bag with interest. She was now digging around inside it, and eventually pulled out a bottle. "What is that?" He asked.

"Shampoo. Don't worry, it's unscented, so you won't come out smelling like a woman," the grin on her face was wide, showing she had forced her nervousness away for the time being.

"I don't know what that is, but go ahead," Ryura said as he waved a hand and looked to her expectantly.

"You might want to get the rest of your hair wet, first," she pointed out.

Ryura dunked himself under the water without protest. When he surfaced, he pushed his now sopping went mane of hair out of his face. Kagome motioned for him to turn around, which he did with a soft splash of water. Thankfully Kagome could only see from mid torso up, as it was above the waterline. She faintly noticed as she dumped a good amount of shampoo in her hands that he had the same stripes on his shoulders that he carried on his wrists and face.

Kagome was going to have to wash his hair a section at a time; it was just that long. With it unbraided she could easily see why it was such a pain to wash. If she had to guess, she would say his unbound hair would fall to his ankles, but with so much of it disappearing into the water, she couldn't be exactly for sure. If it did go down that far, then that meant his hair was even longer than Sesshoumaru's.

She scooted closer to him on her knees and with her hand that was free of shampoo, Kagome gathered his hair and pulled it from the water until the ends were free. This was where she began. Section after section of long, blue silky hair she washed until she reached his scalp.

If Ryura could purr, that's exactly what he would be doing. The way her blunt human nails scratched his head would have had even Sesshoumaru drooling like the dog he was. This was the first time since he was a child that he allowed someone to touch his hair, much less wash it for him, and he was silently wondering if he'd ever be able to do it on his own again.

Ryura had to be extremely careful while washing his hair, else risk cutting it off with his claws, which he was sorely tempted to do at times. Perhaps one day he'd get tired of it and ignore tradition, chopping it all off in one go. For now, though, he was going to enjoy having this long of hair.

"Alright, now go back under and wash out all the soap. It's going to be interesting to see how long you can hold your breath," Kagome said as she tapped the top of Ryura's head.

Once he disappeared under the water, Kagome went about washing her hands of the shampoo coating them in a thick lather. She had to at least use half a bottle of shampoo. It made her wonder if youkai had some special soap they used that wouldn't take as much to get a good lather?

Kagome jerked back in shock when she felt Ryura's head under her hands. He rose up from the water enough until his mouth was showing, his cheeks a bright red with his bangs plastered against his forehead and partially covering his eyes.

"I feel like I'm going to pass out," he murmured.

"Well, get out then!" Kagome said as she jumped to her feet and ran back to hide behind her tree.

She heard Ryura groan and slide out of the water. The noises were followed by a heavy thud, making Kagome peek around the tree to check on Ryura.

He was laying on his stomach, still half way in the water. When he rose up on his hands, Kagome quickly ducked behind the safety of the tree's wide trunk. Hearing footsteps next, she waited to see if he was just moving around or coming towards her.

Ryura appeared beside her, looking down at her crouched form. He was wearing his pants now, but little of anything else. His hands were wrapped around his hair and squeezing out buckets of water. While he did this, Kagome was finding it hard not to stare. Sure, she'd seen Inuyasha and even Miroku without a shirt on, but this was crazy, and she could instantly tell the age difference between all of them purely due to how muscled Ryura was; Inuyasha and Miroku were obviously not old enough to have filled out this much.

Kagome didn't even know it was possible for someone with his thin frame to _be _that ripped. He put models in her era to shame. Were all youkai like this, or was this just a "Ryura thing"?

"Oi, you gonna stare all day or did you want to take a bath, too?" He said, snapping Kagome out of her transfixed state.

The Miko squeaked and was on her feet fast enough it surprised Ryura. She stiffly walked past him, her face red not only from the heat, but her own embarrassment. The Dragon chuckled and took her spot behind the tree. He pulled his hair over his shoulder and continued to ring it out, letting Kagome bathe in privacy.

But not without saying something. "If you want me to wash your hair, just ask!"

Hearing Kagome's gurgled and muffled, water logged yell was enough to make him grin like a fool.

As Kagome bathed, Ryura felt deep within himself the four powers that now resided in his body. Considering they were fading as time passed, he had the feeling that it wasn't permanent. He was still healing, and the powers would possibly only last as long as it took for his body to completely recover.

He leaned back and rested fully against the tree with his eyes closed, intending on resting as much as he could. Ryura wasn't really comfortable with some foreign energy in his body. It reminded him too much of the spheres of power.

As he rested he thought on how to exactly go about training Kagome with a bow. It wasn't as if he couldn't do it, but with his youkai strength he knew he wouldn't be able to use her bow. He would need one stronger, forged from a material that could bend easily without breaking in half. Perhaps he could just have her fire a couple of arrows, and go from there, correcting her form and giving her advice? It wasn't like Kagome was a novice. She at least knew how to point and shoot.

He opened his eyes and looked down at his hands, gaze lingering on the markings of his wrists. It was the first time he had seen them in so, so many years. Images of his father, who carried the same markings, passed through his mind and Ryura frowned. Now he remembered why he hid them. They were signs of his shame, of his sins. Willing them to disappear, Ryura sighed heavily. Would he ever stop feeling so guilty? He didn't honestly think he would. To get rid of the guilt, he would have to forget what he had done in the past, and there was no way he would ever be able to forget. Perhaps one day, if the Kami allowed him to live for a long period of time, he would be able to put the past behind him, but right now, in the present, he knew he had a long way to go.

He sighed again and pushed himself to his feet, completely forgetting about Kagome taking a bath. The fog was so dense he could hard see his hand in front of his face, which was possibly a good thing for him.

Kagome was standing outside the hot springs, with a towel wrapped around her head, her hair within, as she was in the process of pulling up a pair of dark blue jeans. She had just pulled them over her hips with Ryura came walking through the fog and she squealed.

"Hey!" she snapped. "It's a good thing you don't wear subjugation beads!"

Ryura blinked quickly and looked up, just now noticing Kagome in front of him. How in the world had he missed her...? Was he that far gone in his thoughts?

He sighed, yet again, and ran his clawed hand gently though his still slightly damp hair. "Forgive me. I had a lot on my mind. I didn't mean to surprise you."

Stilling, Kagome turned her eyes up to him and saw the look on his face. "Ryura... What's wrong?"

"The past," he murmured.

"Is that why you hid your markings?"

Ryura nodded once while folding his strong arms over his chest, but didn't say anything further about it.

Kagome could only smile sadly. "That's a shame. They looked very good on you."

"They looked like my father's," he said sternly.

Kagome sucked in a harsh breath through her teeth, "I'm sorry..."

He raised a hand and gave it a short wave of dismissal, then tucked it back against his chest. His claws began to idly tap against his ribs and he gave her a once over.

"What sort of material is that you are wearing?" He asked with a pointed look at her jeans.

Kagome looked down at her jeans. "Oh, it's denim. It's a more sturdy material from my era, but it's still made from cotton."

"Denim? Interesting..."

"Ryura, I have a question, if you don't mind my asking?" Her voice was quiet.

The Dragon Daiyoukai looked at her for a long moment before nodding. She had saved his life, after all, by calling for Sesshoumaru, not to mention she took over the task of washing his hair. He could at least answer a question.

"If you don't like seeing your markings because it reminds you of your father, how can you stand to look at yourself? Surely you must look like one of your parents, if not both." Her words were honest, and he could tell by the tone of voice that she didn't say what she did to offend him.

"I don't like looking at myself. Why should I? I hate myself, so why bother looking at something you hate. Would you like seeing Naraku whenever you looked at your reflection?" He said a bit harsher than he meant to.

Kagome flinched. He did have a point.

"I... I won't say I know how you feel, but..." she trailed off and took one step closer. "I used to hate looking at myself, too. I really do look a lot like Kikyou. There are minor differences, like our eye color and hair color, yet I saw her in my reflection, and sometimes I still do."

Ryura's head tilted as he listened. What was she getting at?

"I know it sounds like I hate Kikyou, but really... I'm jealous of her, even with the mistakes she made while she was actually alive. She wasn't perfect, but who is?" Kagome turned to the side, not wanting to look at him as she admitted how she felt for the first time out loud. She knew Ryura was hurting far more than she ever could when it came to this topic, but she couldn't help but think if she talked about her feelings, it might not only help heal her, but heal him in a small way as well.

"I can't hate her. Inuyasha loves her, just as I love him. She loves him too, I can tell that much. Kikyou is starting to return to being the woman Inuyasha fell in love with. She's kind, in her own way," she said with a murmur, then continued. "The last time we saw her... I'll never forget to look on Inuyasha's face."

She looked at him finally. Her smile was sad and looked like she was about to break at any moment. "That's when I realized that I would never be able to heal Inuyasha, or truly be with him. He won't be able to let go of the past, not before I die of old age, at least. While I love him, I have to learn to let him go. Not only for myself, but for him, too. I know seeing me causes him pain, and that pain will only increase after Kikyou is put to rest again. I can't subject him to being in pain the rest of my life because of my own selfish reasons."

Ryura looked at a loss for words. His arms had dropped back down to rest at his sides while Kagome was talking, and his shoulders were slightly hunched.

"It's okay, Ryura..." she said softly once she noticed his dejected appearance. "You know why?"

She gave him a moment before saying, "Because I know that time heals everything – I've begun to heal since I've started to let go of Inuyasha. I don't hate seeing myself anymore. I had to rise above that hate as the first step to letting go of him – and the road ahead of me is a long one. If anything, I'm proud I'm her reincarnation now, and I only wish I'll be able to get to know her better. I want to know her, not the perfect Priestess that Inuyasha has painted her to be. I want to see Kikyou the Woman, not Kikyou the Miko."

"My point is," she said after letting him soak up what she said, "I wish for you, for your soul... For your own peace of mind and spirit, that one day you too will see that the past is the past, and that you only have your future to look forward to. I hope you won't hold what you've done in the past against yourself forever, and live in a world of nothing but darkness and pain, like Inuyasha is. I'd like to think that the Kami-sama gave you this chance not only to redeem your soul, but so you could be at peace. All souls are their children, and no parent likes to see their children suffer, no matter how dark and corrupted their soul has become. I know I wouldn't."

Ryura couldn't find anything to say that would actually sound intelligent. Instead he grabbed Kagome by the arm and pulled her into his chest, wrapping his strong arms around her small frame in a hug. The movements caused the towel to fall from her head and rest on the ground in a heap, her hair falling about her shoulders. He clung to her tightly and rested his chin on the crown of her head. Ignoring her startled cry, he allowed his eyes to close and just thought about what she said.

It took Kagome a bit to get over her embarrassment of being pressed this tightly against Ryura, but when she did, she realized he needed the contact. He needed to feel like there was someone in the world who didn't hate him, who wasn't afraid to touch him in fear of their lives, and who didn't damn him for his actions in the past. He needed a friend, a true friend.

She wrapped her arms around his middle, returning his embrace softly. She could be that friend; she could give him that comfort to help him on his way to healing.

When he pulled away from her slightly, Kagome saw he was allowing his markings to show. She smiled brightly at him, but didn't say anything about it. Ryura smiled back and gave her a quick squeeze before fully letting go.

He didn't say anything as he turned to finish dressing, and she didn't speak either. Instead she pulled on her socks and shoes, and brushed through her hair, ridding it of any tangles and left it down to fully dry.

Ryura was just finished with equipping his armor and was now combing through his hair slowly with his clawed fingers. The sight made Kagome laugh and Ryura turned to look at her with a brow raised.

"I can help with that," she said with a smirk while holding up her brush and waving it at him.

His chest rumbled with a quiet chuckle. "So you not only wish to wash my hair, but tend to it as well? At this rate, Kagome, I'm afraid this is going to be your new job. I'm getting spoiled."

"Oh shush and come sit down in front of me," she said dryly.

When he was settled on the grass covered ground, Kagome lowered herself to her knees. She began to hum as she brushed gently through his nearly dry hair, and Ryura felt his eyes droop. Yes, he was getting spoiled. Not that he'd complain.

His hair was a lot easier to manage when wet than her own was, thankfully, and it really did feel like silk! The age-old question had been answered, and Kagome was _jealous_. Oh was ever she jealous. She would kill to have hair like this. Damn him, Sesshoumaru, and Inuyasha. Lucky bastards.

Kagome started grumbling as she pulled his hair back from his face and neck with a hand, smoothing out any bumps that popped up with her brush. She placed his hair in its customary high tail and tied it off with the thick ribbon he used, then she began to braid the long locks. His blue hair fell through her fingers like water and jealously surged within her again.

"At this rate I might cut your hair myself. No one should have this nice of hair. It's unnatural," she grumbled out. "I wish mine was like this."

"Youkai are supernatural. Of course we would have perfect hair and perfect looks. The only ugly youkai you will ever meet is a lower grade one," he said hauntingly, causing Kagome to hit him lightly on the head with her brush.

His head fell back as he laughed, and Kagome continued to grumble like a child.


	14. Chapter 14: Summer's Last Rain

Chapter 14:

Summer's Last Rain

"Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet."  
― Roger Miller

* * *

And that was how Sesshoumaru found them. Kagome sitting behind Ryura and finishing off the braid of his hair. They both looked at him like children who had been caught painting their parent's walls without permission. Kagome's flying hands came to a slow halt, and Ryura just stopped moving altogether.

"H-hey, Sesshoumaru! How's it going?" Kagome asked with a nervous, shaking tone to her voice.

Ryura was just as nervous as she was, but for a different reason which Sesshoumaru was more than likely going to say. "Yeah, Sesshoumaru! How's it going?" He parroted. "Inuyasha awake yet?"

A slender brow rose a fraction at the two's behavior. "Hn, 'it' is going fine. Inuyasha is indeed awake, and I see you, Miko, have finally roped one of us into letting you play with our hair."

"Hahaha..." the nervous laugh trailed off and Kagome ducked her head down with a blush.

Sesshoumaru turned his attention to Ryura. "Come, Ryura. Inuyasha is asking for you. I believe he does not wish to have your intended there, however. What he wishes to say to you is apparently private."

"Intended?" Kagome squeaked as her head snapped up. "I-Sesshoumaru! It's not like that!"

"Ho? I was under the impression that only intended mates tended to the other's hair. Unless you have adopted her as your child or as a sibling?" Sesshoumaru rumbled while sliding his gaze between Ryura and Kagome.

Ryura quickly rose to his feet and pulled the almost finished braid over his shoulder, his fingers working quickly to finish what Kagome had started. He eyed what part of the braid he could see and silently noted Kagome had done a marvelous job, almost better than he would have. Once he was finished, Ryura grabbed his swords as he went by to stand next to Sesshoumaru, gave them both a spin, and slid them home on his back.

"No, I haven't adopted her. She speaks the truth, Sesshoumaru. I can give into her human whims, can't I?" he asked with a frown.

The Daiyoukai of the West gracefully shrugged a shoulder. "Perhaps. Either way, follow."

Kagome quickly packed her stuff away, her cheeks still a bright red, and hurried to follow after the two. Human whims. Pfah. He was just as happy as she was!

The two males ignored Kagome's low muttering as they made their way. She was muttering about stupid youkai and their stupid, perfect looks and stupid, amazing hair. Ryura snickered once and Sesshoumaru gave the Miko a humorous glance over his shoulder. Her grumbling was just too much to ignore now.

All their humor left them as Inuyasha met them half way, and gave Kagome a curious glance. "I thought I said she doesn't need to be here for this?"

"I'm going to stay until you prove to me you're not going to try and kill him again, Inuyasha," Kagome blurted out before anyone else could speak.

"No, you're not. You're going to turn around and go back the way you came, got it? You'll get yours soon enough, wench, trust me," the hanyou rumbled darkly.

Kagome bristled and stomped a foot. Before she could subdue him, Ryura had him dangling from the ground with a hand around the hanyou's throat.

"Degrade her one more time, half-breed. I dare you," Ryura bit out.

Inuyasha eyed the markings on Ryura's face for a short moment then rolled his eyes, "Or what? You'll try to kill me? Worked wonders for you the last couple of times, eh?"

"Enough, both of you. Say what you wish, Inuyasha, and be done with it. However know that if you attempt to harm or degrade the Miko for her actions that led to saving Ryura's life, he will not be the one punishing you," Sesshoumaru said calmly.

Ryura dropped Inuyasha, who began rubbing at his now sore throat.

"You know what? Forget about it. He ain't worth this shit," he spat out then looked to Kagome. "Oi, wench. Whenever you're finished acting like a bitch in heat, let me know, eh? We sort of left the others behind, and if you don't remember, Naraku's still alive."

"Inuyasha." Sesshoumaru's voice came, dark and deadly. The hanyou looked to his elder half-brother and frowned.

Then Ryura snarled and backhanded him across the face, "What did we just finish saying!? Are you truly that stupid, Inuyasha? You insult your father and your mother _both_ with your obvious lack of intelligence!"

His angry eyes watched as Inuyasha was forced to backflip in the air away from Ryura and Sesshoumaru, before the Inu Daiyoukai could step in and get his own hit on the hanyou.

"Feh, like you know anything! Just leave me alone!" Inuyasha snapped and took to the air, disappearing from their sight in a flurry of red and silver.

Behind them Kagome sighed haggardly and rubbed her forehead with both hands, trying to ease away the headache she felt coming in her skull. Leave it to Inuyasha to take a perfectly nice, calm moment and ruin it for everyone.

"He's right in a way, even if he can't word it right. I should probably get back to the others," Kagome said once she felt calm enough to speak.

"I will be accompanying you, Miko, considering your pack is far off and it would be dangerous for you to walk on your own," Sesshoumaru spoke up. Ryura nodded his head in agreement.

"Oh, alright. You probably have to pick up Rin too, huh?" She asked, and Sesshoumaru nodded. "Indeed."

Ryura held out a hand to Kagome and wiggled his fingers. "It would be faster to fly, and would possibly help dry our hair faster." He grinned.

The Miko chuckled softly and took his hand without hesitation. She was quickly resting in his arms and he was mindful of his armor as he adjusted his grip on her back and under her knees. With a nod showing he was ready, Ryura leaped into the air with Sesshoumaru following shortly behind him.

Laughing gleefully, Kagome had her arms raised up as high as they could go without getting in Ryura's way. She never knew flying could be so much fun! Normally she had a bumpy ride on Inuyasha's back, and this was far different than anything she had ever experienced.

Next to them, Sesshoumaru watched on with a spark of mirth in his eyes. "Never have I seen a human so comfortable with their feet off the ground. You are sure you are human, Miko?"

"Yup! I'm sure! This is just so amazing!" She yelled out so Sesshoumaru could hear her over the wind.

Ryura laughed loudly as Kagome settled down with a slightly embarrassed look on her face. The rest of their short journey was quiet until the trio were slowly coming to land off to one side of the pack's campsite.

"Kagome!" Shippou cried out excitedly. "I was so worried about you!"

"Me too, Kagome! I hope you're feeling better!" Sango said next.

"My, Lady Kagome, what an interesting position we find you in!" Miroku, without surprise, said suggestively with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

Ryura set Kagome down on her feet gently. She hopped from one foot to the other, then back again, before quickly speeding her way over to her group and greeting them each with a hug. Except Miroku. He only got an awkward pat on the shoulder.

"Lord Ryura, it is good to see you return looking better off than before," Tsuyoshi voiced as he came to stand at Ryura's side. He was purposely eying his marks with a questioning brow raised.

Ripping his eyes away from Sesshoumaru glaring hard enough at Jaken to set the little gami into a verbal panic attack, spewing incoherent words, Ryura looked to the water Dragon and smiled softly. He flicked his eyes at Kagome still speaking animatedly with her friends.

Tsuyoshi followed his Lord's gaze, his other eyebrow raising. "I see. Interesting."

"Before I forgot. Tsuyoshi, I have an issue I have to speak with you about," Ryura said.

Tsuyoshi nodded understandingly and gestured off to the side, away from the main part of the camp. Only Sesshoumaru would be able to hear them at that distance. Together the two moved away, and Ryura began speaking.

"Kagome came to a revelation earlier, and I was hoping you would know a way she could dress as her station usually requires, yet in such a way that she would not resemble say... Another Miko?" Ryura's voice was low as he spoke.

"I was pondering her attire while you were away, to be honest. It seemed far too..." he trailed off, not wishing to say the word. Instead he went straight to the point, "I can think of a way, yes. If she would allow it, I could even help her hair grow to the length it should be."

"You can do that?" Ryura asked, surprised.

"The human body consists mostly of water. I can make it do quite a few things," Tsuyoshi admitted.

"Huh. I'd have to ask her," he said then looked up. "Oi, Kagome! Can you come here, please? Have something I wanna ask you!"

Kagome looked over her shoulder and gave the two Dragon youkai a smile. Quietly she excused herself and trotted over to Ryura.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Tsuyoshi has a thought in mind, about what we talked about earlier." He left it unsaid, but eyed her clothing to prove a point. Kagome flushed with a mix of horror and frustration, but nodded.

"My Lady, you might not be aware, but the human body is made up almost entirely of water," Tsuyoshi began.

"Roughly about sixty-five percent water, give or take depending on circumstances. Yes, I know," Kagome said with a smile. Tsuyoshi looked at her, shocked, then quietly chuckled when he remembered she was from the future.

"It is good you understand, then. It will make what I wish to do more easier to comprehend," he said as he reached out a hand, pausing just before touching Kagome's hair.

"May I?" he asked to be polite.

Kagome gave a confused nod and watched as his hand took hold of a small lock of her hair. Fog-like youki emitted from his hand and he ran it down that lock of hair, and as he moved his hand, her hair grew around three inches.

"Whoa!" Kagome exclaimed. "That's amazing!"

Tsuyoshi went to clip the now uneven lock of hair with his claws, but Kagome stopped him. "Waaaaait! Can you do that to all of my hair?"

"I can," he said, confused.

"Please! Ryura told me about the hair thing, how Miko and other people with political influence wear their hair long. He told me I look like a trollop, too," she said quickly.

Shocked, Tsuyoshi turned his now wide eyes to Ryura. "My Lord!"

"Hey! I didn't say it like _that_!" Ryura defended himself with an innocent wave of his hands.

Kagome giggled and apologized softly.

"Well, Lady Kagome, if you would turn around I can begin to work," Tsuyoshi said while paying close attention to his Lord and Kagome's light, back and forth banter. It ended with Kagome slapping Ryura's arm that was exposed, and he actually _stuck his tongue out at her_.

Kagome spun on her heel while laughing, and with a nod from Ryura, Tsuyoshi began to run his clawed hands through Kagome's hair, all the while the same fog-like youki drifted from his hands. While he worked, the Miko waved happily at the worried looks she was getting from her friends.

"It's okay! Tsuyoshi is just fixing an issue for me," she said merrily. But that didn't stop them from at least watching, curious as to what exactly he was doing.

After a few moments, Kagome's hair was down to her hips, and looked healthier than it ever had before. It was sleek and shiny, looking like it would be smooth to the touch. Tsuyoshi asked her to kindly turn around and began to work on the front parts of her hair, using his claws like someone from Kagome's era would scissors to trim her bangs until they were even and resting just a centimeter or two above her eyebrows.

Once he was finished, Kagome ran her hands through her now extremely long hair and almost purred. It felt just like Ryura's! So, youki in her hair did this, huh? Kagome thought she just found a new conditioner, and she hoped Tsuyoshi was prepared to either show her how to do this with her reiki if it was possible, and if it wasn't, he better damn well have been prepared to do this to her hair whenever it started to dry out. The Feudal Era was a wreck on her hair, after all. It wasn't that Kagome was a particularly vain person, but she lofted having soft and manageable hair. It just made her life easier.

"Ryura, look! Touch it!" Kagome said while holding it out to the Dragon Daiyoukai.

He ran his fingers through it with a chuckle. "You were saying about having your hair feel like mine?"

"I know!" she gushed as she brought the end of her hair and nuzzled her cheek against it. "It's so soft. My friends in my era are going to be so jealous."

"I am pleased you find it to your liking," Tsuyoshi said with a soft chuckle.

"Now, for the attire...?" Ryura asked.

"Ah, yes." Tsuyoshi nodded and focused his gaze on Ryura. "There is a way she can dress that would show her station as Miko, but at the same time without her having to look like Miko who might be the caretaker of a Shrine or village."

"And what way is that?" Ryura's head was tilted out of curiosity.

Kagome paid close attention when Tsuyoshi explained. "Miko who are sworn to Houses of nobility may wear hakama that are dyed the main color of that Houses' crest even, despite how rare it is for this to happen, if that House might be made up of youkai. For example, Lord Ryura, the House of Storm's main color is black, as you know. If she were to swear herself to you and your House, she could wear hakama of that color, and have your Houses' crest embroidered on to the right shoulder of her haori. With the crest on her haori, most humans will not question her purity and will possibly not end up calling her a dark Miko, so as long as her haori is white as well as the ribbon in her hair."

"Well, Kagome sure does have her pick of the litter then. There's my House, then Sesshoumaru's, along with someone she mentioned named Kouga," Ryura said thoughtfully. "Know any human nobility?"

"I do, actually... It's a friend of Sango's family. I forgot what his name was, though." She smiled sheepishly.

"You know Kouga of the Northern Wolf Tribe, Lady Kagome?" Tsuyoshi asked with his brows raised. That particular pack of wolves were known for their hostility towards humans, despite the recent rumors that Kouga's pack had suddenly stopped using them as livestock.

"I do, actually! I'm an honorary sister of their pack," Kagome said with pride. "...even if I could go without Kouga calling me his woman all the time – please, don't ask. You'll probably meet him if you hang around long enough, and get to see for yourself."

Ryura grunted at that.

"Yet again you prove to be more than you seem, Lady Kagome." Tsuyoshi smiled faintly and bowed his head respectively. "It would seem, since you are an honorary sister, that you speak with Prince Kouga about this."

"I don't know if that would be a good idea, with his thinking I'm going to mate him and all. I think it'd give him the wrong impression," Kagome said with a nod.

"Then how about mine?" Ryura blurted out. "I wouldn't make you do anything weird. At most, if you're still around when I retake my family's lands, I might ask for your help here and there."

Both Kagome and Tsuyoshi looked at Ryura with wide eyes, and Kagome was the first to ask, "Are you sure?"

"Of course I am! You've saved my life, washed my hair for me and braided it too!" Ryura said with a laugh. "So, how about it?"

"Washed your...hair," Tsuyoshi's voice was skeptical, his mind instantly going to the same conclusion Sesshoumaru's had earlier.

Kagome bit her lip and Ryura growled in warning. "Sorry, sorry. But, if you're sure you wouldn't mind, and if you don't mind Tsuyoshi... I'd like that," she finished with a smile.

"I do not mind, my Lady. Even if I did, it would not be up to me, in the end."

"Sure it would, Tsuyoshi. You've been around longer than I have, and I didn't make you the Steward without reason. I take your advice seriously." Ryura gave the water Dragon a fangy grin then said, "Well, that settles it. You, Kagome, are now officially a member of the House of Storms. May the wind guard your back."

Tsuyoshi smiled softly at his Lord and Kagome. "Then I will leave to see to our new Miko's attire, with your leave, Lord Ryura."

"Of course. I'll be with Inuyasha's pack, so if we start moving, just sniff around for his horrid smell," Ryura grumbled out.

With a chuckle, Tsuyoshi was gone, disappearing with a small puff of icy looking fog.

Kagome laughed and ran over to tell her friends the news, a large smile splitting her face. "Hey guys, guess what?"

As Kagome excitedly told Sango and Miroku what was happening, Sesshoumaru quietly took a spot beside Ryura.

"Miko of your House, washing and braiding your hair... If I did not know better I would say that the House of Storms would soon have a new Lady, Ryura." Sesshoumaru's comment was stoic as the rest of him, but it did hold just a hint of mirth.

"Oh you shut your dirty mouth, Sesshoumaru. Kagome is a friend," Ryura growled out. "If you say that too loud you know what might happen."

He released a rare and soft laugh, "Hilarious. I remember my grandfather telling a story of my father saying much the same about my mother shortly before they married. Also, you should give the Miko more credit. In the future, should you want her as your mate, she will be able to fend for herself. You will have my support in the matter, of course. The Shikon Miko is not a person to brush off simply due to her humanity, after all."

He didn't give Ryura a chance to respond. He simply turned away and walked back to his own pack with his retainer's eyes growing to the size of grapefruits with each step Sesshoumaru took. Ryura shook a fist at his retreating back, then he flopped down to sit on the ground. His eyes darted around the camp and he began to notice it was a bit too quiet. Where was Inuyasha? He searched the trees but spotted no sign of the fire-rat clad hanyou.

"Is it normal for Inuyasha to run off?" Ryura asked loudly enough to gain everyone's attention.

"He will some times, when he is upset." Miroku said with a furrowed brow. "Did something happen?"

"Yes..." Kagome trailed off and looked to her feet. "Inuyasha said some pretty nasty things to me, and it upset Ryura. They started fighting and Inuyasha used the Dragon-Scaled Tessaiga on him. He cut his youketsu."

"I see. Is that why you yelled for Lord Sesshoumaru?" Miroku's voice was soft as he remembered Sesshoumaru saying Kagome's name and disappearing into the sky as a streak of red youki, only to transform into a massive silver-white dog. He knew Kagome pretty well after all this time of traveling with her and Inuyasha, and he understood Kagome was not the type of person to let a person on death's doorstep stay there if she could help, so to him it made sense she called for Sesshoumaru rather than anyone else.

"It is... I thought if he did die, Sesshoumaru could bring him back with Tenseiga, but he had to do a whole different thing to restore Ryura's youketsu," Kagome murmured.

Ryura grunted uncomfortably. "It seemed he didn't learn his lesson, however. He insulted her again after everything was over. I don't want to repeat what he said, not around the children, so please don't ask me to."

With a sigh, Miroku looked to the sky and whispered, "Inuyasha, my friend, are you ever going to learn? You are pushing her away. I only pray you are ready for the outcome of your actions..."

* * *

A day had passed and there was still no sign of Inuyasha. Not wishing to go too far without him, the group decided it best to return to the village. It would give Kagome time to go home and check in with her family at the same time as they waited for Inuyasha to return. The villagers seemed wary of Ryura when they entered the main portion of Kaede's village, and the Dragon Daiyoukai couldn't honestly blame them, not after what happened. Sesshoumaru had already set out after hearing a rumor of Naraku-grade miasma off to the north. Rin and Jaken, of course, went with him. With both Inuyasha no where to be found, and Sesshoumaru off tracking Naraku, it wasn't a surprise that Inuyasha's pack felt dejected.

When Ryura noticed the hut that he sent Inuyasha into was still destroyed he frowned softly and excused himself from the group. They watched him leave until he turned a corner, and together what was left of them entered Kaede's hut.

"Kagome, child. It is good to see ye are fairing well," Kaede said with a smile, then she greeted Sango, Miroku, Shippou, and even little Kirara.

As they settled down around the fire within Kaede's hut, the elder Miko squinted her good eye. "Kagome, thy hair!"

Kagome smiled. "I had help from a water Dragon Daiyoukai, Tsuyoshi. He's Ryura's Steward."

"Yeah, and Kagome's now Ryura's Miko," Shippou bubbled out as he focused on his latest drawing.

"His what now, Kagome?" Kaede asked with confusion while sliding her eye over to the younger Miko.

While Kagome lost herself in a fit of nervous giggles, Sango answered for her. "He means Kagome's sworn herself to Ryura's House. He's a Lord, Kaede-sama."

"Are ye sure that is wise, Kagome? Naraku is still among the living, and the Shikon no Tama still in pieces." The aging woman was worried. She knew Kagome would never skip out on her duties, but being the Miko of a youkai noble House would make it a bit tricky for her to do both at the same time.

That sobered Kagome up. "I'm sure, Kaede. He's just as worried about Naraku and the Shikon no Tama as we are. After all, Naraku's decided to take Ryura's lands for his own."

"He is Lord of the Eastern Territories?" Kaede hummed in her throat at Kagome's nod. This changed everything. "Perhaps we should focus on thy powers then, child. If ye are to be a Miko of nobility, ye should be able to perform the duties of one if he ever calls upon ye for aid. I am sure Miroku-sama will have no issue furthering your lessons while traveling, would ye?"

"I would not, no. I was actually about to suggest the same thing," Miroku said with a small grin.

Kagome clapped her hands together excitedly. "That's perfect! Idea stolen right from my head! With you two helping me and Ryura helping me with archery, I'll be a proper Miko pretty quickly!"

Sango went to ask what she meant about Ryura helping her, but her voice died in her throat as a few women passed outside Kaede's hut, stopping just within range of their hearing.

"He is extremely cute, is he not? The youkai over there. His blue hair is so exotic!" One woman said.

A gasp followed by a light slap came next with, "Haruka-chan!"

"What? It is true, Yuri-chan! Look at him, over there in the rain _wearing very little_, might I add, fixing Ito-san's home!" The woman apparently named Haruka said in her own defense. "It makes me honestly wonder why there are not more hanyou in the world. He, Inuyasha-sama, and Sesshoumaru-sama are extremely handsome men. It is enough to make a woman drop dead in a faint!"

Kagome choked on the water she was drinking. She coughed harshly and Shippou patted her on the back.

Miroku was up on his feet and very discreetly he poked his head out of Kaede's doorway. Sango followed after him like the curious woman she was. She ducked under Miroku's head and look a gander for herself. Kaede even stood up to join them!

Eventually a row of heads could be seen peaking out from Kaede's hut, including Kagome with Shippou's head just below hers, and Kirara's under his. None of them seemed to mind they were getting their heads wet due to the rain.

Like the woman had said, Ryura was across the way, fixing the hut Inuyasha had been tossed into during their fight. His armor and shirt were no where to be seen. Even his swords were missing.

"Well, Kagome-chan, I must say if you have to serve a Lord, I'm happy it's one who looks like _that_," Sango remarked.

Kagome could die right then and there of embarrassment. Come on, Kami-sama! Where's that random bolt of lightning? Normally the last rain of the summer would be more violent than this!


	15. Chapter 15: Invisible

Chapter 15:

Invisible

"I was always holding onto people, and they were always leaving."  
― Lili St. Crow, _Jealousy _

* * *

Stretching her arms high above her head, Kagome grunted softly and sighed. She was heading for the clearing where the Bone-Eater's Well sat and behind her Ryura and Shippou trailed along. The Kitsune had managed to let go of some of his fear of the Dragon Daiyoukai, and was now bombarding him with questions.

"Why do you want Kagome in your House?" Shippou asked innocently.

Ryura chuckled, "For more than one reason, and most of them are Kagome's to share. I will tell you this, however; Kagome is the Shikon Miko, as you know. It's an honor for me to have such a powerful Miko as an ally."

Shippou muttered thoughtfully, then looked ahead at Kagome. "Hey, Kagome! Do you care if he tells me why you're in his House? I mean the real reason."

"I don't mind, Shippou," Kagome said with a chuckle while glancing over her shoulder.

While Ryura went into detail, telling Shippou about Kagome's concerns of the manner of her dress, why her hair was now longer, and her issue with dressing like Kikyou to save Inuyasha from pain and to avoid a fight, Kagome turned her thoughts to the hanyou.

It was going on two days now, and no one had seen Inuyasha. Ryura couldn't pick up his scent, either. Even though he said he was a Dragon youkai, and that his sense of smell wasn't as strong as Sesshoumaru's was, Kagome couldn't help but worry. If Inuyasha was anywhere nearby, Ryura would have been able to pick up at least a trace of his scent.

Was he alright? Naraku didn't find him, did he?

Kagome bit her lip out of worry, and she lightly chewed until she felt herself gnaw on the small cut she had made before, and instantly she could taste blood. Ryura growled, deep and low. He did it so suddenly it scared Shippou and the Kitsune stopped to look up at Ryura as he glared at the back of Kagome's head.

"Kagome," he warned.

She sheepishly smiled over her shoulder. "I'm sorry. I'm worried for Inuyasha."

"What? What was she doing?" Shippou asked, slightly relieved. He thought Ryura was angry at Kagome. He trotted quickly to catch up with Ryura afterwards.

Ryura glanced down to the child and then tapped his nose, "Kagome was chewing on her lip. Do you smell that?"

Shippou gave him a confused look, then raised his head, nose twitching as he smelled the air. "Sort of. It smells like copper and...and power. It's blood."

"Kagome's blood, yes." Ryura said with a nod. "The power is reiki. Smell again. There's something else that labels it as Kagome."

Shippou inhaled deeply, his frame expanding with the effort. "A..a flower?" Shippou asked.

"It is a flower. But can you tell what type?" the Dragon Daiyoukai smiled as he asked.

"I've never smelt it before," Shippou admitted with a blush to his cheeks.

"It's called a moonflower, or an angel's trumpet," Ryura tilted his head to one side as he spoke. "You see, Shippou, this is a way you can tell if someone you care for is in danger. Blood smells the same no matter who it's from, even if from youkai. That tang of power shows if they're _creatures _of power, but there is always one thing about the blood that sets it apart from the rest. A specific scent no other being can copy."

Kagome smiled to herself, listening to Ryura teach Shippou things only another youkai could show him. Inuyasha had tried but it turned out he just didn't have the patience for it – surprise, surprise. Shippou was half decent at tracking things, but even so, Ryura was giving him advice to help the young Kitsune with things he would never be able to learn on his own.

"So if I smell this, then that means Kagome's bleeding, and she's most likely hurt?" came the Kitsune's next question.

"Yes, that is what it means. If she is far from you, and you happen to catch that scent, it's when you should find someone to help her," Ryura said kindly.

"Inuyasha?" Shippou asked.

Ryura chuckled, "Any one of us, really."

"Even you?"

The Dragon Daiyoukai nodded firmly. "Especially me. I am not only Kagome's Lord now. I am also her friend."

Their conversation came to a halt. Kagome was now entering the clearing and slowly moving towards the well. She stopped right as her feet were lightly touching the wooden body, and Shippou and Ryura came to stand on either side of her. Ryura leaned over to look into the darkness as Shippou jumped onto the lip of the well, his tiny paw-like feet stepping back and forth. He loved watching the magic flare to life when Kagome dropped in. It reminded him of his foxfire.

"Inuyasha's coming," Ryura said lowly.

Kagome, startled, looked at him, then at the direction he tilted his head. Slowly she looked back to the well, silently wondering if she should leave before the hanyou arrived. She wasn't exactly for sure she wanted to talk to him yet.

"Kagome..." Shippou whined. "Is he going to be mean to you again?"

"I don't know Shippou, I really don't." She sighed and bowed her head.

Shippou quickly walked across the wooden rim until he was in front of Kagome. With the added boost to his height, he could see into Kagome's eyes easier, and reach her hands without much effort. His very small hands gently took hers and he gave them a soft tug.

"It's okay, Kagome. I'll protect you! I can squish him with a top!" he stated with a hard edge to his voice, showing he was trying to be brave.

Kagome laughed softly then ruffled Shippou's hair. Beside her Ryura let out a chuckle on his own as his left hand reached up to run along the hilt of Fujinga. He hoped he wouldn't have to fight the hanyou in front of Kagome again, or in front of Shippou. Ryura refused to lose again. With a soft rustle of grass being disturbed, Inuyasha landed ahead of them on the opposite side of the well. He flicked a glance at Ryura, then jerked his head.

"Kagome, can we talk?" he asked.

The Miko smiled faintly and nodded. She patted both Shippou and Ryura on the arms, then moved around them to head in the direction Inuyasha had jerked his head.

"Take care, Inuyasha," Ryura rumbled out in warning.

He glared over his shoulder at Ryura. "Feh. Yeah, yeah, ya damn dragon."

When Inuyasha felt they were far enough away that neither of the full blooded youkai would be able to overhear his and Kagome's conversation, he stopped walking.

"What happened to your hair?" He asked once he finally noticed it.

Kagome looked down at one of the stray locks gently blowing in the breeze. "Ah... Tsuyoshi did it for me."

"What? Why would he do that?" he asked, confused.

Lips thinning into a pursed line, Kagome eyed his own hair. "Why do you wear yours long, Inuyasha?"

"Well, that's easy. It's 'cause my parents were nobility." He looked at her as if he didn't understand why she asked, like she should already have known.

"I see. And who else wears their hair long, besides nobility?" She asked tightly.

Inuyasha didn't get what her problem was, but decided to indulge her anyway. "Miko, monks... Guess that's why Miroku has his in the tail."

"Yes, exactly Inuyasha. _Miko _wear their hair long. You just answered your own question from before," she bit out.

Inuyasha's brows furrowed. He had? All he asked was why the water Dragon made her hair—oooohhh.

"Ya ain't a Miko, wench. Sure, you got the reiki but you were never train-" he was quickly interrupted.

"Kaede and Miroku are going to be fixing that, I promise you," Kagome muttered. "Anyway, what did you want to talk about?"

Inuyasha held up his hand as if asking for a moment. "That water bastard is coming. Damnit, can't I ever get a break?"

Sure enough it was as Inuyasha said. Tsuyoshi entered their line of sight, carrying a long parcel. He ignored Inuyasha completely, not happy with the hanyou at the moment, and simply walked to stand in front of Kagome.

"Here you are, Lady Kagome; the attire Lord Ryura asked me to acquire," he said once he reached her, the parcel stretched out for her to take.

Nervously Kagome smiled and took the offered package, hugging it to her chest. She bowed her head gratefully, "Thank you, Tsuyoshi."

"Oi, what the fuck is going on? That bastard's buying you clothes now?" Inuyasha snapped, none too pleased with the situation as whole.

Tsuyoshi regarded Inuyasha for a moment. "I see you are unaware," he murmured.

"Unaware of what?" He asked. He was frustrated to Hell and back now.

Kagome shook her head, "No, he isn't aware. I just started talking with him."

"Very well, allow me," Tsuyoshi said as he glanced at Kagome. When his gaze returned to Inuyasha, it was hard and cold. "Inuyasha-sama, Lady Kagome has recently sworn herself as a Miko to the House of Storms. The clothing is Miko attire in the color of my Lord's House."

"What? Oh hell no! Kagome, we don't have time for this crap!" Inuyasha all but whined.

Kagome opened her mouth to say something, but was quickly silenced by Tsuyoshi raising his hand faster than her human eyes could keep up with. It was a polite gesture for her to remain silent, and considering Kagome's own bubbling rage, she gracefully bowed out of the argument building and decided to let Tsuyoshi take care of it for now.

"My Lord is very aware of Lady Kagome's prior duties and he does not intend to interfere with them – if anything he is wishing to help, seeing as Naraku has invaded Lord Ryura's ancestral lands," the water Dragon said calmly, then added, "He intends to wait until after Naraku has been defeated and the Shikon no Tama made whole again before attempting to ask Lady Kagome for her assistance."

Kagome craned her head back to look up at Tsuyoshi. If she didn't know better, it sounded like he had been practicing this speech. Then again, Sesshoumaru was very evened tempered with Inuyasha unless he managed to anger the Inu Daiyoukai. It spoke volumes of their ability to think on their feet.

"Her assistance, huh? Feh, whatever. You're just trying to be like Kikyou. Again," Inuyasha said with hostility.

Time slowed to a crawl. Inuyasha said it. He said it. He actually said it.

Kagome didn't know whether she wanted to cry, scream in frustration, or smack Inuyasha across the face. She settled for an alternate option and stomped past him towards the well. He tried reaching out of her arm, but Tsuyoshi was quickly in his way, a small frown on his face.

"Leave her be, Inuyasha-sama. That is no longer your place."

The Miko didn't pay any attention to what was happening behind her, with Inuyasha screaming at Tsuyoshi to explain just what the hell he meant. She kept her eyes forward and squared her shoulders. She did halt once, however, but only to say. "Before I go..." Glaring over her shoulder she hissed, "Sit."

"Damnit, Kago-!" Inuyasha was forced into the ground, bent at an odd angle, before he could finish saying her name.

With Inuyasha subdued, Tsuyoshi had nothing better to do than to follow Kagome as she returned to Ryura and Shippou. He watched as Kagome kept the package hugged tightly to her chest, and he remained silent as they entered the clearing. Kagome bowed her head, not wanting to look at anyone, but she kept her eyes on the ground until she saw Ryura's decorative blue boots enter her line of sight. Even then she didn't stop. She moved until her forehead was touching the chest of his armor.

"Kagome?" he asked carefully. He then looked up to Tsuyoshi, who held up his hands and made them look like ears on top of his head.

The Miko didn't respond; only stood with her forehead pressed against the cool metal that outlined the hardened leather of his chest plate. She used it as a focus point to calm herself down. She wasn't going to cry – she refused to cry. She'd cried enough lately, and she hated feeling weak, which is how crying made her feel. If she was going to be a true Miko, she needed to learn to control her emotions in certain situations. Kagome felt a chat with Sesshoumaru coming as soon as she found the Daiyoukai again.

Kagome paid attention to Ryura's boots as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. Her eyes followed the gold swirling up either side of his shins to wrap around the top of the dark blue material with fancy curves and loops.

Ryura sighed and draped his arms over Kagome's shoulders, figuring Inuyasha must have upset her again if Tsuyoshi's ear motions were anything to go by. With his fingers of his right hand he gestured Shippou over to them. The kit gladly took the invitation and was hopping from the well over to Ryura's left arm. He scrambled down the dragonhide covered appendage and was soon next to Kagome's ear, talking to her softly and asking her what was wrong.

Eyes wide, brows disappearing into his bangs, Tsuyoshi looked at the trio in absolute and utter disbelief. Nostalgia washed over him, and he had to swallow the lump in his throat. All he could see was Ryura's blue hair and his armor. His face was hidden due to his leaning down slightly to look at Kagome's face while he and Shippou spoke to her. Kagome's face was completely out of view, as was most of Shippou's body. All Tsuyoshi could see of the little kit was a bit of his haori and his small hand setting on Kagome's shoulder.

His mind flashed back to when Ryura's parents were alive.

He saw Shoichi and his mate, Kasumi, standing with a young Ryura a decade or so after he was born. Ryura carried his father's colorings and his marks, but his features were that of his mother. From behind, Kagome greatly resembled Kasumi with her long and dark hair, and with nothing visible of Shippou except for a bit of his haori, it was hard for Tsuyoshi not to see images of the past in his mind.

Quickly Tsuyoshi shook his head and patted himself lightly on the cheek with a hand. What was he _thinking? _It was a good thing too, for Inuyasha had returned to see the exact same thing Tsuyoshi was watching. The water Dragon slowly moved to the side, prepared to launch himself into the fray should he need to and remove Kagome and Shippou from the equation.

He snarled, "_Let go of her!"_

Tessaiga sang as Inuyasha drew it, coming to life in a burst of golden youki. With one hand he held the sword and pointed the tip in Ryura's direction. By now the Dragon Daiyoukai had, of course, noticed Inuyasha's presence and went about pushing Kagome behind him, the Miko holding onto Shippou.

"Why?" was the only thing Ryura asked.

Inuyasha blanched. Why? _Why? _"Because she's mine, damnit!"

Behind Ryura, Kagome let out a slow hiss of air. "Don't make me say _it_, Inuyasha!"

"Shut up!" He roared in return. "You're mine, Kagome! Stay out of this!"

Going against Ryura's wishes, Kagome stepped out from behind him and instructed Shippou to go to Tsuyoshi. The kit was slow to move at first, but when Inuyasha growled, he squeaked loudly and bee-lined it for the water Dragon. Shippou now to safety, Kagome leveled a glare on Inuyasha while she carefully set her package she was gifted on the well, out of harm's reach.

"I won't stay out of it."

"Kagome,_ move_ it." Inuyasha warned again.

"No, Inuyasha! I'm not yours! I've never been yours!" She yelled. All the pent up anger and hurt came pouring out at once, "You've never given me a _chance _to be yours, because when you look at me, you always see Kikyou! I have always been invisible to you, I've never been just Kagome!"

Ryura let her rant, staying silent. If she felt like she had to get it out, then he wasn't going to stop her. He folded his arms over his chest, watching Inuyasha over top Kagome's head and waiting to see if the hanyou would do anything in way of harming Kagome.

"From the first day we met, you've always thought I was Kikyou!" She was panting now. "But guess what? I'm not! I'm Kagome. _Ka-go-me. _My eyes are blue, not brown. My hair is black, not dark brown. I was born with the Shikon no Tama in my _body_, I didn't die with it in my blood stained _hands_!"

Inuyasha growled and shoved Tessaiga's blade into the ground next to him out of pure frustration. "I know that, okay!? But you have her soul, you're her reincarnation! I've already failed her twice! _Twice._"

"What does that have to do with me!?" Kagome screeched. "_I am not Kikyou_!"

"Yes you are in a small way! If she hadn't of died when she did, you wouldn't be here! You would probably have someone else's soul!" Inuyasha said, pleading for her to understand. "If I can't protect you – if I can't take care of you, then I'll be failing her a third time, and I don't think I could survive that!"

"Hold on," Ryura said, earning a glare from Inuyasha.

"This is _none _of your business, Dragon. Back the fuck off," he said as he pointed a claw finger at Ryura.

"I will not," Ryura returned. "I do not think you understand reincarnation, Inuyasha."

"Oh yeah, and you do!?" The hanyou shook his fist at the Dragon.

Kagome turned slightly to the side to peer over at Ryura with a brow raised. "What is it?"

"Very well. I was hoping to tell Kagome this in private, but it seems I can no longer hold it off," he sighed. "When Lord Touga ascended he was given the knowledge of all of his past and future lives, considering the Kami-sama live in some warped sense of time. There was a specific life he remembered very well, as well as he did his own as Touga."

Ryura paused to rub the bridge of his nose. "That life he was born as a human; a man named Hikaru Higurashi – Kagome's father."

Kagome gasped as her hands flew to her mouth, and despite this, Ryura kept going.

"For some reason he's not aware of, Touga has been able to directly interfere with Kagome's life. He's protected her, shielded her from physical harm. How do you think she pulled out Tessaiga and then survived Sesshoumaru's poison?"

The hanyou stumbled back a few steps with a look of surprise on his face. All those times Kagome mysterious survived an attack that no human should ever have been able to, had been _his _father?

"Inuyasha, how you see reincarnation is this; when a person dies and their soul is reincarnated, they are the very same person as they were in their former life. Because of this, in your own little ignorant world, Kagome is technically your sister," he finished with a frown and waited for someone to say something.

Inuyasha felt his stomach turn. Kagome was his _sister? _He shook his head quickly, sending his hair flying about his face. No, that wasn't possible. He was lying – he had to be lying.

"You're lying!"

Ryura snarled at the insult. "Use your senses, you half-wit!"

And Inuyasha did. He searched Ryura's aura, listened to his heart, smelt his scent. There were no indicators whatsoever to say that Ryura was lying.

"In your world, Inuyasha, everyone is your sister or your brother. The Kami-sama made our souls, every single last one. That, in turn, makes them our parents," Ryura pointed out. "My point is that just because Kagome carries the same soul as your beloved, does not mean she _is _your beloved – unless you believe everyone in the world to be incest?"

"What? No! Of course I don't!" Inuyasha snapped. "That's stupid!"

"And now you see how your actions have been labeled; stupid." Ryura ran a hand over his face and groaned. "I think it's time you start to see Kagome for who she really is, Inuyasha. This isn't fair to either of you, or Kikyou."

Kagome began to sink to her knees, her shaking hand still against her mouth and hot tears ran down her face. As her knees began to touch the ground, Ryura had her by the bicep and pulled her against him, keeping her steady and in a standing position.

Tsuyoshi nodded slightly, proud with how his Lord conducted himself. Ryura was showing to be more mature than he had been when he first returned. He was coming into his own and slowly the wounds Ryuukotsusei left behind were beginning to heal. Casting his ice-blue eyes to the sky, Tsuyoshi smiled faintly and silently thanked the Kami for giving Ryura this chance to prove himself.

"So Kagome's sort of... my soul sister?" Inuyasha asked.

Kagome began to laugh, surprising everyone. It was watery and broken, but the more she laughed, the clearer it became until it was its normal bell-like sound. An American song popped up into her head, and she imagined dressed in garters and lace dancing around to it.

Inuyasha sputtered, "Oi, what's so funny, wench!?"

She held up her hand while trying to catch her breath, but one look in Inuyasha's direction sent her into another fit of giggles. She pounded a fist against Ryura's armor with her mirth, and tears of joy replaced her tears of sadness.

"Inuyasha, I think you broke Kagome's brain," Shippou said with a sage nod.

Kagome's laughter only increased in volume, ringing through the clearing. It didn't matter if everyone was looking at her as if she lost her mind.

"I uh... I might want to get her home. I think I really did break her brain..." Inuyasha scratched the top of his head.

Kagome only laughed harder.


	16. Chapter 16: Colors of Home

Chapter 16:

Colors of Home

"Home is people. Not a place. If you go back there after the people are gone, then all you can see is what is not there any more."  
― Robin Hobb, _Fool's Fate _

* * *

Ryura's bare foot tapped impatiently against the wooden floor of Kaede's hut. Today was the day Inuyasha's pack would head out again, and Ryura fully intended on going with them, taking Tsuyoshi along as well. Inuyasha had pitched a fit when Ryura first stated his intentions. He ranted and raved up and down, back and forth, and was firmly _against _Ryura and Tsuyoshi tagging along. To him, it was bad enough when Sesshoumaru or Kouga would show up and stick around for a day or so. Like hell he was going to let Ryura travel with them until Naraku was defeated.

That was until Miroku pointed out that Naraku had nearly the entire Shikon no Tama at his disposal. He was going to be far stronger than they had ever seen before. When the final fight came to a head, they were going to need all the help they could get. Sesshoumaru, Kouga, Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, and Kagome would have to give it their all. But, as Miroku pointed out, it would be a boon to have two more Daiyoukai with them, both with control over certain elements.

Should Naraku tempt to trap them, they would have no fear of running out of clean water. Tsuyoshi could produce fresh and safe water to drink from his very youki. A lack of air wouldn't be a problem, either. No matter where Ryura was, he could always call upon a fresh wind to rejuvenate them. It also couldn't hurt to have two extra pairs of eyes watching out for the women and children of the packs once they were combined. Rin and no doubt Shippou would be somewhere close by, and they absolutely could not afford to allow Naraku to get his hands on them.

In the end, Inuyasha reluctantly agreed, saying at least the two Dragons smelt better than Kouga. He'd take having to be around them all the time rather than Kouga.

Now all they had to do was wait for Kagome to return from her era. Ryura planned on letting Kagome have a few hours with Kaede to begin her lessons, so Miroku could pick up where the elder Miko left off once they set out. If Inuyasha decided to bitch and moan, he'd just tell the hanyou that he could go on by himself with the others, and he would meet up with them and bring Kagome with them when she was finished.

"Lord Ryura?"

Ryura's red eyes glanced to the side, looking briefly at Miroku as the monk entered the hut.

"Hn?" he hummed.

"I was wanting to speak with you about Lady Kagome," Miroku said with a tight smile.

The Dragon Daiyoukai pushed off the wall and clenched his fists. "What is it? Is she all right?"

"Ah, she is perfectly healthy as far as I am aware. Inuyasha has gone to retrieve her, however. It will give us some time to talk, knowing how long they can argue for." Miroku chuckled. "Sango and I held him off as long as we could, but I believe two days is his limit."

He walked past Ryura and took a seat in front of the fireplace with his legs folded under him. Ryura joined him on the opposite side, then looked at Miroku expectantly. "Well?" he asked.

"You seem very close with Lady Kagome." Miroku poked idly at the fire as he spoke. It sounded like he was talking about the weather, to be honest.

Ryura's face scrunched up with a frown. "I suppose I am," he admitted.

He didn't know if he was going to like where this was going.

Miroku smiled brightly, but the smile seemed fake to Ryura. He held his tongue, however, and decided to wait and see what Miroku would say next.

"Forgive me if this seems rude, suddenly questioning you like this. You must realize that I look to Kagome as a very dear friend - just as you may. My beloved Sango loves her like a sister, and I will do whatever it takes to make Sango happy. At the same time I will do whatever it takes to keep Lady Kagome safe," his voice turned dark towards the end of his speech and he absently touched the beads around his right hand where his Wind Tunnel rested.

The silent threat was very clear to Ryura. "I have no intentions of harming Kagome - ever. Also, you have never stared into the eyes of one of, if not _the_, most power Daiyoukai to exist, who is now a Kami, and have him threaten you. I apologize, Miroku-sama, but your wind tunnel is no where near as frightening as Touga-kamisama himself is."

Miroku blinked once, then twice. He then stared at Ryura for a long moment, then let out a loud laugh. Who did Miroku think he was talking to, again?

"I am terribly sorry. I am more used to dealing with Inuyasha," he said with a bubbling chuckle. "Speaking to one who is not as blind to the world, when I am concerned for Lady Kagome, is very different."

Ryura gave Miroku a small grin. "It's all right. I can understand your concerns, considering..." he trailed off, leaving the suggestion of how they met on Horai Island as a faint reminder.

"How are they?" Ryura asked suddenly.

Miroku tilted his head, "Who?"

"The children." Ryura was looking at the fire now. He missed Miroku's soft smile.

"They are doing just fine. After Horai Island, they came with us and stayed within this very hut for half a moon cycle. They are now traveling around Nippon, experiencing life for themselves," he paused and considered what he was about to say. "However, I do keep my eyes on them. Monks travel far and wide, and I have asked a few who are not so hateful of hanyou and youkai to keep an eye out for them. Currently they are in the southern islands."

Ryura breathed out a sigh of relief, "Good. Tsuyoshi was mentioning Naraku's influence hasn't spread that far."

"No, not yet." Miroku said with a slow nod. He understood were Ryura was coming from, being worried about the hanyou children being killed, or worse captured, but the spider-hanyou.

A moment of silence fell between then before Miroku asked, "Lord Ryura, may I know what your intentions are for Lady Kagome? I am only curious."

"My intentions? I..." he trailed off, brows furrowing. What _were _his intentions, anyway? "Kagome is a dear friend to me. She has helped me begin to come to...terms with my past. I still have a long, long road to travel, but Kagome has shown me there is, in fact, a light at the end of the tunnel. I will never be able to thank her enough for it."

"So you wish to see to her safety?" Miroku asked. "Is that why you accepted her into your House?"

"In a way, yes. My House, even with as few members as it has now, and even with my lands in the hands of Naraku, is still one to be feared. When she begins to wear my crest, no youkai with a brain will dare lay a single finger on her, minus Naraku of course. After all, it is well known that the House of Storms and the House of the Moon are closely linked together. Not only is she a part of my House, Kagome is an adopted member of Sesshoumaru's pack due to Inuyasha at the same time. It is why he may show more care for her than he would another human, aside from Rin. Mix that with how close our Houses are..."

"If Lady Kagome was harmed, then whoever hurt her would have you and Sesshoumaru after them." Miroku stated. Now he understood.

"Indeed. It will also give her a bit of pull in human villages and politics. While most of my kind despise humans, even more-so the majority of their cowardly Lords, we try and keep at least some resemblance of peace between ourselves. Just as they are familiar with other noble houses, they are familiar with the noble houses of youkai," Ryura said as he looked from the fire to Miroku.

"And that will mean for Lady Kagome... what, exactly?" He couldn't hide his curiosity.

"Quite a few things. If she remains in this era after Naraku's death and the Shikon no Tama's completion, she will be able to do as she pleases. While most Miko are free to do as they wish, most are forced to marry by a village elder or a land's lord. At least, once their main duty is complete," Ryura informed him. "It depends on where the Miko resides, to be honest."

"Lady Kagome will be exempt from this, I take it?" When Ryura nodded Miroku smiled. "That is good. Lady Kagome is far different than nearly all the women of this era – aside from my Sango, of course. A reason they get along so well is because they were both raised outside of this era's norm for women. Sango was treated as equally as her brother and other men of her village, just as other women were. She was free to speak when she wanted, free to fight when times called for it. She was never held back due to her gender."

"Kagome's era is different?"

Miroku nodded once, "Extremely. You see, every woman from Kagome's era is quite able to take care of themselves. She has expressed to me that while there are still some women who do not mind acting as those here do with their husbands, most go on to make a life for themselves, have careers, far before they marry. Some do not marry at all, and it is never held against them. Women are free, where she comes from. Here, she has said, they are treated almost like slaves."

Ryura snorted. "Human women, perhaps. Youkai tend to do things differently. I am pretty sure I can say with confidence that the reason your Sango was raised as she was, was so she could understand youkai society as she learned to hunt mindless, lower level youkai. To slay something you must understand it, ne? I am sure she has fought one of minor intelligence before." Miroku nodded slowly and Ryura continued, "To give you an example, while Sesshoumaru may be Lord of the Western Territories, his mother runs it in his stead, and trust me to look down on that person because she is female will be the last mistake you ever make."

"Women and men are treated equally among youkai..." Miroku said with wonder. "And humans say youkai are the animals," he finished with a chuckle.

"Hn, indeed. It makes you wonder, huh?" Ryura said with a grin.

As they continued to talk, just outside of the hut, Tsuyoshi eavesdropped on their conversation with a small smile. He hated to interrupt them, but he had the items his Lord requested. If he planned on getting things sorted before Lady Kagome returned, he would have to start now.

He pushed his way past the screen covering the hut's entrance and gently cleared his throat. "Lord Ryura, I apologize for the intrusion."

Ryura looked up and over Miroku, who had turned to look back at the water Dragon. "Tsuyoshi! You're back faster than I was expecting! How did it go?"

"Very well, my Lord. If you will step outside, I will show you?" His voice held a questioning tone to it.

Ryura nodded quickly and rose to his feet. He walked barefoot out the hut, not bothering to slide his boots on. Miroku was soon following after him, then coughed with surprise at the large box covered in a brown paper that was setting just outside.

"What in the world is in there?" He asked once the cough died down.

In the process of slashing away the paper, Ryura looked over his shoulder and let out a undignified, "Huh?"

He followed Miroku's gaze. "Oh, this! You'll see."

Tsuyoshi came to stand beside Miroku and together they watched Ryura rip away the paper like a child on Christmas morning, yank off the box's lid, and lean up and over until the upper half of his body disappeared. When he pulled out, his arms were full of armor pieces and other minor articles of clothing. He spread the pieces out on the ground carefully.

Then, without a word, Ryura began stripping himself of his armor, letting it fall to the ground with loud clanks of metal meeting metal. He took off the shirt he was wearing, tossing it over to Tsuyoshi who caught it with a chuckle.

Bare chested and barefooted, the Dragon Daiyoukai leaned over and quickly snatched up a shirt that looked exactly like the other, except on the left shoulder it bore a crest made up of Itajime Shibori, a type of storm cloud pattern, dyed with colors ranging from black, to navy blue, sky blue, and silver-white. Streaking across the pattern was a jagged silver lightning bolt that traveled all the way down Ryura's left arm.

The pieces of armor, random in patterns along the ground, soon began to make sense to Miroku as he watched Ryura. The more time that past, the more Ryura was dressed in the exact same armor as before, except where his old was various shades of blue, this new armor was shades of black and grey. Even his boots mimicked the old, and ending just below his knees, with the style the same in all but color. Blue replaced with black and gold replaced with silver.

Much like the old, his arm and shoulder guards were made from the same material; dragonhide and scales. The scales were a deep blue, resembling the color of the stripes on Ryura's face. Aside from the colorings, Miroku noticed the Dragon claws were situated much lower on Ryura's arms, near mid-bicep instead of closer to his shoulders. This allowed the crest running along his shoulder to be easily seen should anyone take a gander.

After Ryura re-sheathed Fujinga and Raijinga on his back, he began to stretch, as if trying to adjust to a new armor after so many decades. He twisted back and forth then squatted close to the ground; he even jumped high into the air a few times. It fit extremely well, and Totosai couldn't have done a better job, but Ryura figured he was still going to have to break it in.

"Do I wanna know what he's doin'?" Inuyasha asked, apparently just returning from his trip through time to fetch Kagome.

Tsuyoshi and Miroku offered Inuyasha their own forms of greetings, before Miroku explained what was going on. While he spoke, Inuyasha took a closer look at Ryura's armor and clothing, then began to grumble loudly.

"What is it?" Miroku asked, confused.

The grumbling only stopped long enough for Inuyasha to respond. "You'll see, monk. You'll see."

Miroku looked even more confused and was about to just strangle the answer out of Inuyasha, and he would've, if he didn't see Kagome walking down the path next to Sango. The Miko was dressed as a Miko for the first time Miroku could remember. Her billowing hakama flowed around her legs as she moved, and her white haori stood out in start contrast with her dark hair that was held bound in a high tail with a white ribbon.

Now Miroku could see what Inuyasha was griping so hard about.

Kagome wore the exact same colors as Ryura did. Her hakama were black as the cords that wove through the sleeves of her haori. The same crest was embroidered on the right shoulder, where Ryura wore his on his left. The lightning bolt of Kagome's crest also traveled down her arm, only skipping over the slit in her haori's sleeve. Her feet were clad in smaller versions of Ryura's boots. They possibly went up to her knee, but Miroku couldn't tell. Her hakama prevented that.

Miroku turned to ask Tsuyoshi what was going on, exactly, but found the water Dragon missing. He sighed haggardly and readied himself for Inuyasha's no doubt poor mood for the rest of the day. The hanyou would probably be upset until he got over what Kagome was wearing.

"Oi, Kagome!" Ryura said as he quickly passed by Inuyasha and Miroku, heading for the women.

He gave Sango a polite nod of his head and a smile in greeting once he reached them, but Kagome's greeting was far different than Sango's. Ryura's hands were at her waist and suddenly, before she could truly register what was going on, he had her lifted into the air and spinning her in a circle. Kagome's hands went to Ryura's bare shoulders out of surprise.

The smile Ryura wore was contagious and Kagome found herself returning it with fervor.

"Good to see you too, Ryura!" Kagome said with a laugh. "I'm home, everyone!" she called out as she spotted the rest of her friends next to Kaede's hut.

The Dragon Daiyoukai set her on her feet and stepped back to take a good look at her. He nodded appreciatively while humming

"It looks good on you," he said with a grin.

It had been so long since he had seen someone wear his House's colors and crest, and it had been just as long since he wore it himself. To see one as strong, albeit untrained, and kind as Kagome was only made Ryura happier. His House would do well with her in it, even if she wasn't around all the time. He watched as Kagome ducked her head to hide her blush, causing the tail her hair was in to spill over her shoulder.

She mumbled, "T-thank you."

When she looked up again, it was only then she noticed Ryura's new manner of dress. Wearing the same colors as she, Kagome couldn't help it when her blush spread even further against her will. She was happy, however, that he had began to wear the colors. It showed her that he took her words to heart. He was trying to let the past be the past, while looking forward to his future.

"Feh, can we go already? We're burning daylight!" Inuyasha said from the back of the group.

Ryura hummed softly. "Actually, I would like to remain here for a few hours." He ignored Inuyasha's snort of outrage. "Only so Kaede-sama can begin Kagome's lessons, and Miroku-sama can pick up said lessons as we travel."

"It would not be a bad idea, Inuyasha. I cannot truly help Lady Kagome until she understands how to take hold of her reiki on her own, without the aid of a bow. Once she is able to do that, however, then I can take over," Miroku murmured as an aside to Inuyasha.

"If you would like, Inuyasha, you and the rest of your pack could begin to travel and when Kagome's lessons are finished, we will meet up with you," Ryura suggested.

Inuyasha grumbled and stuffed his hands into the sleeves of his haori. He actually looked like he was _considering it_. No one was as surprised as Kagome when he nodded his head and said, "Fine. Just don't take too long, eh? Kagome is the only one who can sense the jewel, even if Naraku's trying to hide himself when we're close enough to him."

After the shock wore off, those who were leaving prepared for their journey. Kirara was set out to find Shippou, and when she did and brought him back, Kagome said her goodbyes.

"I'll see you guys soon! Don't kill Naraku without me!" She yelled with a hand cupped around her mouth and her other arm waving in the air.

Sango, Miroku, and Shippou from atop Kirara's back waved, and Inuyasha held up his left hand without looking back. Kagome smiled as she watched them leave until they were nothing but dots in the distance.

Lowering her arms back to her side, Kagome looked up to Ryura and asked, "Hey, where's Tsuyoshi? He randomly disappeared earlier..."

"Ah, he is getting his armor," Ryura said with a small grin. "If we are to go into battle, he wants to be properly dressed, and a kimono just doesn't cut it, ne?"

Kagome giggled and nodded, "Yeah, that makes sense."

Ryura cast his eyes out over what part of the village he could see. Kaede was no where in sight, unfortunately. Remembering what Kaede had said before she left earlier this morning, she was out helping some woman give birth to a child – humans were odd like that, fertile not once, but _twelve _times a year.

That thought had him mentally freaking out and he quickly cast a look down at Kagome. How long had it been since he met her? Almost half a moon cycle? Ryura paled and ran a hand slowly over his face. This was going to be hell. Pure and utter hell.

"Ryura? Is something wrong?" Kagome asked. Her face was one of textbook worry, and he had to force himself to smile.

"No, everything's fine. It seems Kaede-sama is busy. Let me see how you fire a bow until she returns," he said.

Kagome gave him a bright smile while patting the longbow that rested over her shoulder. Together they made their way to the same clearing Inuyasha and Ryura fought in not so long ago. Evidence of their battle still remained; Ryura could still smell lingering traces of his own blood on the air and marks from Tessaiga littered the ground beneath their feet.

Watching where she was going, Kagome toed carefully over the deep gouges left behind by the Wind Scar until she and Ryura reached the opposite end of the clearing. There was a tree where they had just come from that would work as a fine target for Kagome.

He watched as she made sure her bow was properly strung, and once that was finished Kagome slowly slid her hand back, slender fingers landing on the fletching of an arrow. With one swift movement she had the arrow pulled, notched and was pulling back the bow's string. The fletching tickled her cheek and Kagome drew a bead on one of the trees.

And then, she fired.

The clearing lit up with her reiki as the arrow cut through the air. Ryura was forced to take a step back when he felt the stinging of her powers against his face, and he shielded his eyes to watch the arrow fly until it hit dead center and buried a few inches deep in the trunk.

That was... not as bad as he thought it was going to be. Kagome made it sound as if she was a horrible archer.

"Again," he said.

Kagome nodded once and repeated the motions. This time the arrow actually split the other one in half.

"Kagome..." he said lowly. "From what I am seeing, you're a highly skilled archer. Just what were you talking about?"

The Miko laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her head with her right hand. "You see, I can shoot and hit almost anything when I'm not in a battle. But as soon as one starts, I get so nervous I can barely keep the arrow from shaking before its fully out of my quiver."

"Odd. If I remember correctly, your arrow hit my sword without much resistance on Horai," he murmured.

Kagome nodded slightly, "I remember. I was more afraid for Inuyasha's life than I was for my own, so I just... you know."

"Hm..." The Dragon Daiyoukai looked from Kagome, then to the tree, and back. When she became nervous, she was a horrid archer, but when her friends were in danger she was just as skilled as she just showed him? He supposed that made sense. But how was he going to make her nervous without putting her life in danger by just finding a stray, mindless youkai and tossing her at it?

His arms folded and his head bowed as he thought. After seeing Kagome nervous quite a few times by this point, it didn't take him long to come up with a way to aid her. Ryura smirked and moved to stand behind her, close enough the chest plate of his armor was resting against her back. His hands rested on his hips with his head tilted to one side.

"Shoot again," he said.

Kagome, wide eyed, stared back at him while giving a nod. A blush crept into her cheeks.

Let the fumbling mess that was Kagome begin!

Her stance was off, the arrow trembled in her fingers, and when she fired, the arrow actually managed to be shot into the _sky_ rather than across the field. When it started to fall, it shot straight down into the forest. She could feel Ryura shaking behind her with a quiet laugh.

"W-well, I... I do hope no one was... out there..." he managed to get out between keeping himself from snorting and laughing at the same time.

Kagome groaned and buried her face in the left sleeve of her haori. This was going to be another long day.


	17. Chapter 17: Nerves of Steel

Chapter 17:

Nerves of Steel

"As a blacksmith uses heat to temper steel, so should a trial by fire strengthen one's mettle."  
― Jeffrey Fry

* * *

Becoming familiar with Ryura against her back didn't take as long as the Dragon thought it would. Kagome's shots were clean and precise once again, and it was a good thing he was behind her, else he was pretty sure her reiki would have tried to burn his face off.

Perhaps "familiar" was the wrong term to use. It was more like Kagome had managed to steel herself enough to not pay attention to how nervous she was at having Ryura's armored chest against her back. As soon as she had dropped into a comfortable rhythm, Ryura moved his hands from his hips to hers. Kagome immediately stiffened under his touch.

Her arrow was shot into the ground at her feet.

Back and forth this would continue with Kagome shooting like a novice until she pushed her nervousness aside, then Ryura would change how he was touching her. Every now and then Kagome would get a break with Ryura hopping around the ruined clearing scooping up wayward arrows to refill her quiver. When he was finished he would resume his position behind her and awkwardly wrap around her.

Kaede found them and she felt herself blush as if she were a young woman again. Seeing Kagome and Ryura as close as they were to each other came as a shock.

The Lord had his left arm wrapped around Kagome's lower torso with his hand splayed out across her stomach. His other arm was wrapped around his shoulders and the claws of his right hand were trailing lightly in random patterns across the side of Kagome's face. Ryura held a goofy grin on his face as he rested his chin atop her head.

Wondering what exactly it was they were doing, Kaede decided to keep her presence hidden. Her one good eye widened dramatically as she watched Kagome fire an arrow and have it land not three feet away from where Kaede herself was standing. Her shots were _horrible!_ Kaede had heard Inuyasha griping about Kagome's shooting but never would she have thought it was _this _bad. How was the girl still alive!? Sheer luck!?

Instead of going over and immediately correcting Kagome's stance and beating Ryura away from her, Kaede continued to watch. Within a few short minutes, Kagome's shots were smooth and centered. Her mind flew back to the time the younger Miko told her of her issues in battle, and suddenly everything became clear.

Ryura was ridding Kagome of her habits when she became nervous in battle, by making her nervous as he possibly could, and that was, at the moment, wrapped so close around her he looked as if he was melding together with her.

Kaede cleared her throat, making the two jump apart. Ryura jumped the furthest, at least four feet away. With a blush on his cheeks, he bowed his head. "Greetings Kaede-sama. I pray your day has been well?"

Kagome waved at the elder woman and gave her a smile, "Hello, Kaede!"

Well, it seemed Kagome was carrying out her lessons very well. Kaede could tell she was nervous, but Kagome was trying not to allow it to affect her to the point she became a blubbering goofball.

"My day has indeed been fine. Our village has a new member," Kaede chuckled and moved to join the two, "How would it be for ye if we were to hold thy lessons here, Kagome?"

"Outside? I wouldn't mind it, if you're sure you'll be fine," Kagome smiled softly at her grandmother-figure. "You did just help a woman give birth, after all."

"I will be fine, child. Now, sit." Kaede instructed.

Kagome did as Kaede bid without question and sat seiza on the grass. Ryura gave them a bit more space until he was closer to a thin tree, then sat down himself. He'd never seen a Miko learn to control their reiki since it was usually done when they were very small children. Well, he'd never seen a Miko train ever, to be honest.

He rested back against the tree, making himself comfortable. He was assuming since he was technically Kagome's Lord, Kaede was allowing him to view the lesson.

Kaede first had Kagome fall into a meditative like state, and when she didn't react to Kaede suddenly snapping her fingers directly next to Kagome's ear, the elder Miko nodded, satisfied. She gently instructed Kagome to only focus on the sound of her voice and asked her to nod if she heard her. Kaede was making sure Kagome didn't go into a full meditative trance. She only wanted her floating between the two states.

Ryura's attention was stolen away by Tsuyoshi landing with a soft thump on the grass beside him.

The water Dragon wore an outfit consisting of close fitting black hakama, an equally and close fitting black haori with the House of Storm's crest on his right shoulder – the same place Kagome wore hers denoting both of them as servants of the House – and across his chest he wore a dark steel breast plate that covered the area of his heart. His left arm was covered in armor that spread down the length of his arm as if it were a dragon, as that was the way it was designed - to look like a dragon's body with the maw of the dragon opening on his wrist. Resting around his shoulders and over his breast plate was a silver-white vest that fell to his mid thighs and wrapping around his waist was a navy blue sash that kept the vest he was wearing close to his body. His feet were clad in boots much like Sesshoumaru wore. Tsuyoshi's white-blue hair as pulled back into a high tail and kept in place by a ribbon that matched the color of his sash.

His chosen weapon was a spear tipped with what appeared to be a Dragon's fang, for that's what it was. It was forged from his own fang and the tip of said fang was used for the blade of his spear. Around the black shaft of the spear, close to the head where the blade rest, a long and thin ribbon was tied. The color, yet again, matched his sash and faded red markings could be seen, as if blood had been washed from the silk in the past.

"Well, don't you look fancy," Ryura said with a smirk. "Be careful, else Kagome or Sango-san might fall for you."

Tsuyoshi rolled his eyes as he crouched down to sit beside his Lord. He rested the spear against his shoulder and draped his unarmored arm over it, his eyes now focused on the lesson Kaede was giving Kagome. The water Dragon watched for a few moments, the cast his gaze around the field, spotting the few sporadically placed arrows.

"Should I be worried for Lady Kagome's future as an archer?" Tsuyoshi asked with a brow raised.

Ryura chuckled and waved a hand. "No, she's a perfectly good archer – a damn good archer, actually. She only loses sight of what she can and should be doing if she becomes nervous, which apparently happens often in battle unless one of her friends are directly in danger."

Their voices were low as they spoke, not wishing to interrupt Kaede as she walked Kagome through the steps of controlling her reiki.

"Ho? And how ever are you going to manage to correct that without putting her in danger of being killed?" Tsuyoshi gave Ryura a sidelong glance at that. A faint grin appeared on his face when he saw Ryura blush.

"Don't wanna talk about it. Let's just leave it at if she can make it through what happened, she can look Naraku in the face in a one on one battle and come out of it alive," Ryura muttered.

They fell into silence, watching Kagome go about her lesson. They saw the pink of her reiki flow around her, Kaede quietly speaking to her the entire time. The high tail Kagome's hair as in flowed about her form, dancing together with her power. Her eyes were closed and she looked as if she were at peace and enjoying feeling her reiki swim against her.

Kaede looked over to them after a few moments and motioned for them to move further back. The two Daiyoukai gave each other curious glances before rising to their feet and stepping backwards until Kaede gave a single to stop with a nod of her head.

"Let it go, child." Kaede said softly.

Kagome immediately responded by letting go of the mental reigns she had on her reiki. It burst from her body like an explosion and swept through the clearing, reaching as far as Tsuyoshi and Ryura had been sitting. The two were even forced to step further back once the pink reiki began to lick at their boots.

Raising their arms to shield their eyes, whatever loose clothing or hair they had began to billow behind them, and Ryura felt himself at a loss for words.

"This is..." he sputtered.

Tsuyoshi stole a glance at his Lord. "Incredible. I have heard from Miroku-sama that _this_ is not even her true power, either. It was sealed away when she was a child. You may not have seen it, my Lord, but reiki is naturally blue, yet Lady Kagome's is pink. What else do you know of that is pink?" he asked.

"The Shikon no Tama when it's pure." Ryura said as he lowered his arm since his eyes had adjusted.

Tsuyoshi followed suit and ended up leaning lazily against his spear, watching the two Miko in front of him. "Correct. My best guess is that the Shikon no Tama did not wish its Guardian to be completely helpless and it attempted to give Lady Kagome some amount of power to protect herself with."

"That does make sense, but this much? If she knew how to use this power properly, I wouldn't of had the chance to come back. Ever. You know what happens to us if we are purified!" Flabbergasted, Ryura looked at his Steward as if the man was crazy.

"Ah, yes. You fought against Lady Kagome on Horai Island." Tsuyoshi nodded once. "Either way, if this is only a fraction of her true power, does it not make more sense for the Shikon no Tama to make up what has been sealed away, even if only by a small amount – a small amount compared to what she is _supposed _to have?"

Ryura speculatively glanced at Tsuyoshi. He didn't respond however, not knowing _how _to respond. The Shikon no Tama was a powerful and cursed artifact. Who was Ryura to say what it could do and what it couldn't?

With a rush of air leaving her, Kagome's power receded back into her body as if it had never been allowed out that much to begin with. Her eyes fluttered open and she gave Kaede a tired smile.

"Well done, child! I have not seen one who can control their reiki that well on their first try when all of it has been released, and in such great amount!" Kaede praised the younger Miko with a proud smile.

"Thanks..." Kagome breathed.

Kaede made a move to stand, and Kagome quickly helped the elder to her feet, despite how tired and drained she was.

"Now, ye may feel tired but it is perfectly natural. Ye have not used such a vast amount of reiki in thy life. The first time is always draining, but they more ye train and do as I have taught ye, the less and less ye will become tired," Kaede said, giving Kagome a pat on the arm.

"Building up my stamina, huh?" Kagome gave a lopsided grin, and Kaede nodded, saying, "Exactly."

She looked around for Ryura then. "Ryura? I think you might have to carry me if we want to make it to Inuyasha on..." the words died on her lips when her eyes found Ryura and the male standing next to him. "Who is... Is that Tsuyoshi?" she asked in a whisper to the elder woman next to her.

Kaede followed Kagome's gaze to the two youkai walking towards them.

"I believe it is, aye," Kaede replied in the same tone Kagome had used.

"Huh. I have to say he looks a lot different like that, doesn't he?" Kagome asked.

She shouldered her bow and kept a firm grip on it to keep herself awake. Feeling something real beneath her hand gave her something to concentrate on. To Kagome it felt like she could fall over at any moment.

Kaede nodded slowly. "Indeed he does. If I were forty years younger..."

"Kaede!" Kagome said with a gasp.

The elder Miko simply laughed and turned, hobbling away back towards the village.

"Take care, child. I will see ye when ye return," she said over her shoulder.

Kagome couldn't stop the giggle that escaped her. Raising her free arm, she waved after Kaede. "I'll miss you while we're gone! Thank you, and see you later, Kaede!"

Smiling now, Kagome turned to greet the men as they neared her. Ryura wore a proud smile on his face while Tsuyoshi dipped his head in a respectful bow, a small smile to his lips. Their calm, peaceful auras washed over her once they were close enough, and Kagome suddenly found it hard to stand. It felt like she was wrapped in warm blankets that were trying to lull her to sleep.

They must have been doing it on purpose, considering Ryura held out his hand for Kagome to take before she began to fall to her knees. She shakily took his hand and found herself soon after being lifted into his arms. Her eyes began to droop once she found a comfortable position with her head resting against the cool surface of Ryura's armor. Tsuyoshi carefully took one of the two cloak-like sashes Ryura wore over his shoulders and laid it across Kagome as if it were a blanket.

"The nights are becoming colder," the water Dragon said with a shrug when he spotted Ryura's confused look.

"Ah, they are?" He asked.

"Where we will be heading they are, at least. And it cannot hurt, either way. I assume we will be flying?" Tsuyoshi leaned against his spear and looked up to the sky.

Ryura didn't have to answer. The grin on his face was enough for Tsuyoshi.


	18. Chapter 18: Cracked Reflection

Chapter 18:

Cracked Reflection

"We always see our worst selves. Our most vulnerable selves. We need someone else to get close enough to tell us we're wrong. Someone we trust."  
― David Levithan, _Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List _

* * *

"Kanna," Naraku said. "It is time."

The void child gave a small nod of her head. "Yes, Naraku-sama."

"Do not fail me."

Kanna walked on without looking back. Her time had come.

Naraku watched his void incarnation leave with a small smirk on his face. He had been planning this for quite some time, but thanks to that damned Dragon, he had to adjust his plans. Now, however, it would be perfect. The spider-hanyou turned his eyes to a slightly larger replica of Kanna's mirror that hung within the confines of his personal quarters. With it he could see what Kanna saw, and as he watched the landscape pass through her eyes, he rolled a small blue orb between his fingers.

Ryura the Dragon would be out of his way soon enough.

* * *

Ryura let out a tongue curling yawn and without a free hand to cover his mouth, Tsuyoshi snorted beside him at the way Ryura looked. Night had fallen and apparently the young Lord was getting tired himself.

"That is a charming look, my Lord." The water Dragon snickered.

"Oh shut up. Not like I could help it," Ryura snapped back.

As they flew, Tsuyoshi gave another chuckle and twisted around in the air until he was flying directly above Ryura upside down. The hand that was free of his spear reached out and lightly poked Kagome's cheek with a clawed finger.

"It is hard to believe she and you were attempting to kill each other not more than six moons ago," Tsuyoshi said thoughtfully. He held a look that resembled wonder on his face.

Ryura blew a raspberry in an attempt to spit out Tsuyoshi's hair that flew into his face. "Good Kami, Tsuyoshi. Get that out of my face, I can't see where I'm going!"

Still upside down, Tsuyoshi gave him a blank look. "And pray tell, what exactly might you fly into?"

Tsuyoshi moved back around to his original position and both of them were forced to come to a screeching halt as they almost flew into the head of what looked like a giant man made from diamond or glass.

"Something like that!" Ryura yelled. "Where in the Hells did _that _come from!? It wasn't there a second ago!"

Being jerked from how fast Ryura had to stop mixed with how loud he was being had woken up, and oh was she ever cranky. She would take one of Souta's dirty, smelly socks in her face as a wake up call than how she just had woken up.

"Ryura..." she growled.

The Dragon Daiyoukai flicked his eyes down to Kagome and shook his head, "I didn't mean to wake you, but we have a slight problem."

"And that would be?" Kagome snapped.

"That," Tsuyoshi answered as he pointed a finger at the diamond giant.

Kagome craned her head back to look at him, only to see him pointing ahead. When her eyes fell on what he was pointing at, Kagome screeched and the two Dragons groaned.

Her screeching made the diamond giant's head slowly rotate until it was looking at them. Ryura cursed and Tsuyoshi quickly moved ahead of the other Dragon and Kagome. Despite him being floating in mid-air, he still dropped into a battle stance as if he had ground under him. Bending at the knees, his feet spread wide apart and with a quick whirl of his spear, he placed the dangerous instrument of death half-way behind him.

He was using a spear, but standing as if he was about to draw a katana.

"Kagome, I need you to slowly wrap your arms around me. I need to draw my swords," Ryura said without looking down to the Miko.

She didn't question him. Slow as she dared she circled her arms around Ryura's upper torso and held on for dear life while shutting her eyes tightly and silently telling herself not to look down. Around her she could feel Ryura's arms leave her, only to rise up, and she heard the hissing metal as Fujinga and Raijinga were drawn.

After the weight of his arms left her, Kagome couldn't stop herself from wrapping her legs around his waist to give herself an extra grip. She didn't want to fall, thank you very much. Now, if this had been any other time, Ryura would have been a sputtering, red in the face mess. Considering what was in front of him, however, his current position was the last thing on his mind.

Kagome did the possibly next worse thing to letting go. She opened her eyes and looked down. Her arms and legs unconsciously held tighter onto Ryura and she squeaked softly.

But the more she looked, the more a small figure on the ground began to look familiar. Standing at the giant's feet was a small girl with skin the color and texture of porcelain. Her hair was just as white as the yukata she wore and her feet were bare. In her hands she held a beautiful silver mirror.

"Kanna!?" the Miko whispered harshly. "What is she doing here?"

Neither Ryura nor Tsuyoshi had time to react to Kagome's whisper. The giant had perceived them as a threat and quicker than one might think, its large arm swept to the side, forcing both Daiyoukai to fly away with almost break necking speeds. Tsuyoshi and Ryura split apart from each other to hover on either side of the giant. This formation would make it harder for the giant to take them both out at the same time.

The giant struck out again, this time at Ryura once Kanna noticed who the Dragon Daiyoukai had clinging to his front. Ryura had just enough time to dodge, the giant's hand missing him and Kagome by mere inches, and he cursed loudly.

"Fuck! This thing is fast!"

"Don't use any special attacks on it! Kanna's mirror can absorb it and send it back at you!" Kagome cried out loud enough for both Daiyoukai to hear her. "I don't know what this thing is made of, but it feels like Kanna's mirror!"

"A mirror, eh? All we have to do is smash it then!" Ryura yelled. "Tsuyoshi!"

Across the way, the water Dragon gave a swift of his head and was quick to leap at the giant. His spear flew out in a flash of silver, and like Kagome had thought he would, he struck out with it like one would a katana. A large slash was left behind on the giant's shoulder, but quickly it began to nit itself together. Due to their height in the air, all of them missed the crack along Kanna's left shoulder mysteriously begin to form.

Tsuyoshi frowned and used the giant's shoulder, right where the wound had been, to propel himself out of the giant's reach.

A familiar shout floated by their ears and Kagome resisted the urge to beat her head on Ryura's armor.

"Wind Scar!"

And just like Kagome had said, the attack was absorbed and shot back down at Inuyasha, but not by Kanna. The giant itself had absorbed the Wind Scar. They heard Inuyasha curse loudly and saw his red and silver figure dart quickly out the way.

"Okay, what the fuck!?" he was heard shouting as he shot through the air, narrowly missing the Wind Scar that had been reversed on him.

"Ryura, let me down! I can help if I'm on the ground!" Kagome shouted over the rushing winds.

Ryura had been forced to quickly move out the way of the giant attempting to bat him out of the air again. Instead of answering her directly, the Dragon Daiyoukai zigzagged through the air, dodging another flying fist too big for its own good, and gently deposited Kagome on the ground. He was back up in the air in hardly any time at all.

Sango ran for Kagome, Hirakotsu held behind her in her hand and Kirara perched on her right shoulder. Miroku trotted along beside Sango and the monk held a frown on his face.

With only nods and small, tight smiles to greet each other, the three turned their gazes upwards to look at the giant and could only flinch when Inuyasha tried to use the Wind Scar again, which was absorbed and shot back at him. Inuyasha's pack and the Daiyoukai in the air were too focused on the giant to pay attention to the small chips and cracks that were forming on Kanna, still standing silently at the giant's feet.

"Inuyasha, stop doing that!" Kagome yelled. "It's Kanna, you goober!"

"Then what am I supposed to do, huh!?" the hanyou retorted as he came to land heavily close to the others.

Kagome groaned. "Anything but that! Just beat on it or something, like Ryura and Tsuyoshi are!"

The Miko pointed above them and sure enough, Ryura and Tsuyoshi were beating wildly away on the upper parts of the giants. Every now and then the two were forced to dodge the giant swinging at them, but over all, they were doing a pretty good job at keeping its attention away from those on the ground.

"I'll join the others in the air. Kirara!" Sango called. With a roar of fire, Sango was soon riding atop the fire nekomata and releasing her Hirakotsu.

Her departure caused Inuyasha to completely forget what he was going to say and with a loud sigh he stomped over to stand at Kagome's side. He slung Tessaiga upwards until it was resting on his shoulder as his free hand went to settle on his hip.

Miroku gave Kagome and Inuyasha a nod before he too joined the battle. He quickly ran around the giant's legs to stand on the opposite end. The fighting began in earnest with each of the group attacking in their own way without releasing anymore special attacks. Ryura and Tsuyoshi fiercely fought in the air alongside Sango, who was playing catch and release with her overlarge boomerang.

Miroku kept himself to the ground and lashed out at the giant's legs with the top of his oddly sharp staff. He rolled away just in time to miss the giant's foot stomping hard where he had just been. As he panted, he looked up to Kagome and Inuyasha. The two were quietly watching the fight, gauging what to do next, and looking back and forth from the giant and Kanna. Miroku whistled sharply to gain their attention, and when he had it, he held up two fingers and slowly wrapped the first around the second, combining them together.

Inuyasha's response was a large grin. He reached over and hauled Kagome onto his back without her giving much resistance. She too know what Miroku was wanting them to do.

Together the hanyou and the Miko soared through the air with the young woman clinging tightly to the back of Inuyasha's fire-rat haori. He bounced from one wall of the ravine they were in to the other until he was at the very top, and only then did he let Kagome down. When they turned to turn their eyes back to the battle, Inuyasha cursed loudly.

"Damnit! Kagome, look!" He pointed a clawed finger at the giant and Kagome's blue eyes widened.

Within its right hand the giant now held a large replica of Tessaiga that looked to be made from glass. Air was swirling around the blade's length and Kagome screamed.

"Get out the way!" Her voice was loud, piercing through the sounds of battle and alerting everyone to the same thing she and Inuyasha were watching.

Below them, Kanna looked up to the sky and with a soft voice said, "Wind Scar."

The diamond-like giant's head mimicked Kanna's, head lifting upwards to look at the same point in the sky as the void child. It raised its right arm and slashed upwards at that point in the sky, releasing four extremely large golden claw marks that sailed through the air and ripped through the clouds, lightning up the sky with a brilliant radiance that seemed to turn night into day.

The golden energy of the Wind Scar danced through the clouds much like lightning would.

As this happened Sango and Kirara shot towards the ground with the slayer holding out her hand that wasn't gripping Hirakotsu. She grabbed hold of Miroku's arm and pulled him up until he flipped around and sat behind her on Kirara's back. Ryura and Tsuyoshi backed away, hovering just over top of one of the ravine's high cliffs with their feet almost touching the edge. Ryura was preparing Fujinga as he watched the sky begin to churn and rumble.

Tsuyoshi's gaze flicked down to Kanna and he briefly saw her let go of her mirror with her right hand and raise it as high as she could into the air. The churning of the sky grew faster as she moved, yanking the water Dragon's eyes away from the small girl to the brightly glowing clouds above him.

"She is turning it into lightning, Lord Ryura!" Tsuyoshi exclaimed over the now roaring storm that was starting to form.

Ryura gave a nod. "My turn!"

He shot upwards and came to a stop right below the cloud lines and held up Raijinga.

"Dragon Thunder!" he yelled. Raijinga came to life with a crackling of electricity and with Ryura's directing its power, the sword began to combat the Wind Scar's lightning as it danced amongst the clouds.

Those same clouds without warning parted, showing nothing but clear, starry sky, and Ryura warily floated backwards away from it. What was happening now? He could only watch with a nervous curiosity as one of the stars above him began to move in quick circle.

It wasn't a star at all.

Horror filled him as the so-called star circled closer and closer to him. When he tried to move, his body wouldn't respond. He was frozen in mid-air, his eyes focused on the orb of light that was steady growing closer to his location. He couldn't look away, no matter how hard he tried.

"Inuyasha!" he roared when he found his voice. "Get Kagome out of here! _Please!_"

The desperation in Ryura's voice had Inuyasha on the move, despite his nagging thoughts of what the hell could be going on up there to make the Dragon sound like he did. Inuyasha ignored Kagome's protests and wrapped his left arm around her waist to pull her firmly against him. Even when she began to beat her small fists, along with her longbow, on his back, Inuyasha didn't release her.

He for once did as someone asked him to without much complaint and was dashing off with a powerful leap of his legs.

With his back now to the battle, Kagome could easily see what was happening as her group of friends started to become smaller and smaller the further away Inuyasha traveled. Her eyes found Ryura's form, her breath leaving her at what she was seeing.

The formerly thought of star was a small blue orb and it was connecting with the diamond mark on Ryura's forehead. Blue energy erupted from Ryura's body and he flung his head back and roared with the amount of power that was filling him.

"Inuyasha, we have to go back!" Kagome pleaded with the hanyou.

He roughly gave a shake of his head in response, "No way, Kagome!"

"It's the blue sphere of power!" she said in a panicked manner. "We have to help him!"

"What!?" Inuyasha screeched as he came to a sudden halt, spinning on the ball of his foot to look behind him. "Oh that's just fucking _wonderful_! Where the hell did that come from!?"

Inuyasha began to curse up and down until he was almost blue in the face. During his rant he had let go of Kagome, who was now running back to the scene of the battle as fast as her legs could carry her. Behind her the hanyou finally noticed that Kagome was missing and he frantically looked around until he saw her.

"Oi! K-kagome, wait up!" Inuyasha began running back the way he came until he was moving just at Kagome's side.

The Miko gave him a bright smile as thanks for not stopping her, causing Inuyasha to blush, look away, and mutter.

When he was focused again he said, "This has Naraku's stench all over it, like hell I'm going to let him get hold of that damned Dragon! We have enough to fight as it is!"

As they ran, their eyes took in the sight of the brightly glowing form of Ryura. The blue energy was growing in strength until Ryura looked like a nova in the sky. Tsuyoshi soon came to join them and without saying a word he ran along side of them on the opposite side of Kagome. He was going against his Lord's wishes of having Kagome removed from the battle, but at the moment, he knew the woman would be of more help than harm. Until this was over and Ryura was back to normal, Tsuyoshi fully planned on guarding her blind spots alongside the hanyou.

Both the men had to stop Kagome from flying off the cliff of the ravine. She had been looking up and missed the fact they were nearing the edge completely. As the three began to prepare themselves to intervene in some way, Sango and Miroku prepared themselves as well. They were now standing on the opposite cliff, both with their weapons at the ready.

None of them could see Ryura's face, which was possibly a good thing. The blood ruby red of his irises had began to bleed into the whites of his eyes, his pupils turning turquoise at the same time. His face started to elongate and the markings on his cheeks turned into terrifying, jagged lightning bolts that ran down almost to the corners of his mouth.

He gave one final roar before his body was completely engulfed by the blue energy that surrounded him, disappearing from everyone's sights until the blue energy shot high into the sky and performed a hard u-turn to shoot back down. It landed like a meteor and out of the blue flames rose an equally blue Dragon with blood red eyes.

Its body was sleek with glittering scales that formed a type of armor. Wings at least the length of a football field were spread out, reaching towards the sky and lightly scraping along the ravine's walls. The dragon held black spikes as frill that ran along the back of its neck and slightly lighter than the color of its body frill surrounded its head like a crown. On its forehead rested a blue jewel that glinted with some unseen power. Sprouting from either side of his jewel were long horns that delicately bent outwards towards the points of the horns. A long, slender tail trashed back and forth violently behind it.

The Dragon slowly began to raise its head while lightning crackled within its fanged jaws, and the giant made of glass along with Kanna were temporarily forgotten about.

"Move! He has never been in this form before and without another Dragon to guide him, and with that sphere, he has lost his mind to the power!" Tsuyoshi shouted over to the monk and youkai slayer.

He then took hold of Kagome's wrist and flung her over his shoulders, around his back, where he stopped her movements with his other hand, being mindful of the spear he still held. He gave Kagome instructions to hold on tightly and then he was off, flying right for the Dragon's head with a determined look on his face.

Tsuyoshi ignored Inuyasha's yelp, and Kagome told him to sit.

"Ryura!" both Tsuyoshi and Kagome yelled.

The Dragon's head snapped to the side and briefly the lightning in its maw flickered as if the Dragon was hesitating. This only lasted for a moment, however, before the lightning was renewed with vigor.

Before it could fire the lightning, Tsuyoshi dropped Kagome off literally on the snout of the Dragon. The Miko screamed and desperately reached out for something to hold on to. Her hand met with a slightly raised portion of the Dragon's snout and she clung to it for dear life. With the extra bit of weight on its nose, the Dragon was forced to go cross eyed in order to look at Kagome, then it growled.

The growl as deep, a rumbling that shook the ground beneath the Dragon's feet. Kagome only held on tighter.

Above her she felt a burst of youki, and when she took the chance to look up, she saw another Dragon. Just by the color of its scales she could tell it was Tsuyoshi, and while his form held no wings, he was still aloft in the air. Mist surrounded both his front and hide legs. He looked like the silver Chinese dragons of legend. Mist Dragons – except Tsuyoshi was much more than a Mist Dragon.

His body was long and thin with what seemed to be fur for frill that poked out beside its fin-like ears and traveled down the length of his body, ending in a sharp spike of fur at the very tip of his tail.

Like a snake he traveled through the air until he was close to Ryura's form, where he immediately began to wrap his long body around Ryura's, constricting him and keeping him from moving too much, or so he was hoping. He bit heavily into Ryura's left shoulder, and the blue Dragon roared with pain in response.

"Ryura, look at me!" Kagome shouted when the Dragon had taken its eyes off her to look down at Tsuyoshi own maw still clamping down tightly.

Red eyes flicked to look at her.

"That's it, just keep looking at me," Kagome said softly as if trying to calm a distraught child.

She inched her way up the Dragon's snout and used its scales to travel between the two red eyes that were somehow still managing to look at her. She slowly worked her way until she was staring directly at the sphere of power. Inside of it, hidden by the power of the sphere until now, Kagome saw the darkened form of a shard of the Shikon no Tama.

Kagome was angry now, angrier than she had ever been. She reached behind her and yanked out an arrow, then held it up while allowing her reiki to the surface. It crackled around her arrow and only when enough power had been gathered at the tip of the arrow's head, Kagome rammed the arrow as far as she could into the blue sphere of power.

Cracks began to form along the jewel's surface, crawling outwards, and from it a dark light was released. The dark light of a corrupted Shikon no Tama. Black and purple leaked towards her and Kagome quickly purified it by sticking her hand within the darkened light. As the light turned pink Kagome yanked her arrow out of the sphere and with a grace she normally didn't have, snatched the now purified shard of the Shikon no Tama out of the air.

The blue sphere of power continued to crack until it shattered and simply turned to dust and fluttered away on the wind.

Tsuyoshi watched carefully as his Lord's red eyes blinked multiple times in rapid succession. Gone was the mindless glint in his eyes, replaced by an awareness Tsuyoshi knew could only be Ryura's consciousness returning to him. He yanked his fangs out of Ryura's shoulders and unwound his body from the blue Dragon's, only to move away and hover off to the side.

The Dragon raised one of its large, clawed and scaled hands up towards it snout, and with a gently nudge of a finger-like appendage, he moved Kagome to sit on top of his head. She wrapped her arms as far as she could around one of the horns the size of the Tree of Ages trunk until she found her footing.

Ryura lowered himself onto all fours after she was steady, and turned quicker than one would imagine from the sheer size of him, to face the diamond giant and Kanna. The void child's eyes were wide, showing for the first time some small amount of emotion before their size quickly returned to normal.

"Very well," she whispered. "Wind Scar."

The giant reacted once again, and the previous fight was continued with interest. Inuyasha was jumping from the cliffs with Tessaiga drawn to his side while Miroku and Sango were positioned back on top of Kirara and heading for the giant.

"You know what to do, Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled up at her.

"Right!" she returned with a nod of her head.

Ryura kept himself still as Kagome withdrew an arrow and notched it. He could feel the purity of her powers as they lit pink just above his field of vision. Inuyasha was on the ground in front of him, Tsuyoshi hovering just over top of the hanyou, and as the Wind Scar grew closer and closer, Inuyasha's smirk became wider.

"Backlash Wave!"

Like angry tornadoes sent by Susanowo himself, the Backlash Wave ripped from the Tessaiga and was soon collecting the Wind Scar's power, greedily taking it for itself. Kagome fired her arrow then and watched it streak like a fallen star to join in with the Backlash Wave's energy. Ryura gathered lightning in his mouth and at the same time Tsuyoshi gathered water in his.

Both dragons shot their breath attacks outwards to join in with the Backlash Wave.

There was nothing stopping it now.

The Backlash Wave, empowered by so many different energies and elements, ripped into the giant, breaking and destroying it faster than the giant could heal itself. Kanna's body was soon ripped apart. Her left hand disintegrated along with her right arm. She lost her left eye as a it shattered like glass. Unable to keep a hold of her mirror, it fell to the ground, exploding into small pieces of glass and silver.

From atop Ryura's head, Kagome smiled softly down at the little girl and said, "You're free, Kanna. I hope you find peace."

The little girl for the first time in her life truly smiled. "Thank you, Kagome-sama."

Kanna was startled, however, when she felt the giant move of its own accord. As a last act of life the diamond giant began to glow brightly until the pressure it was building inside of itself became too much. It exploded like a dying star.

None of Inuyasha's group had time to react.


	19. Chapter 19: Sacrificed

Chapter 19:

Sacrificed

"Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you're not really losing it. You're just passing it on to someone else."  
― Mitch Albom, _The Five People You Meet in Heaven _

* * *

As the light from the exploding giant in its death throes died down the entire ravine was covered in fine white dust. The bodies of blue and silver Dragons could easily be seen towering above the white, their massive forms unable to be completely covered. The blue Dragon was curled in on itself with its head tucked tightly against its side. The silver Dragon was sprawled out, its lithe body spread out across the length of the ravine.

Slowly the blue dragon uncovered its head, lifting it up to dart its red eyes around the area. It gave a single, powerful thrust of its wings, a massive gale following after it, clearing away the white dust. Bodies of others were revealed slowly. Red, black, blue were the colors of the the clothing these bodies were covered in, and as the wind died down, the one in blue coughed and shot up into a sitting position.

Miroku looked around with blurry eyes and at seeing Sango's still prone position he rushed to her side and felt for her pulse.

"Good," he breathed out with relief. "She's just unconscious."

He next moved over to Inuyasha and repeated the same actions to find that, yet again, his other companion was simply unconscious and, thankfully, not dead. Kirara was next, the fire nekomata harder to find due to her now smaller form, but when Miroku found her, he took her sleeping body and laid it next to Sango.

The blue Dragon nodded to himself then looked down to where his head and previously been. Kagome rested in the crook of one of his great arms, flashing him a bright smile. He returned it with a split of his giant maw, revealing rows of sharp, gleaming fangs.

The silver Dragon began to rise himself, standing on all fours and giving his body a sharp shake to rid himself of the bits of white dust that had gathered on him after the explosion.

"Well," he began. "That wasss interesssting," his words were prolonged by a forked tongue slithering out as he spoke, like a snake scenting the air.

Kagome hopped up from her place against the blue Dragon, Ryura in his true form, and scrambled her way over his large arm. She took a few steps back to look up at the Dragon, admiring the form he was in. He was shaped like what was called in her era a Western Dragon, the Dragons from legends that mostly originated from Europe – which would have surprised her, except the only other Dragon she had seen before now was Ryuukotsusei, and he didn't have wings either, just like Tsuyoshi. Kagome wasn't exactly for sure how Dragons were supposed to look like, after all. They, like youkai, were myths in her era.

"Tsuyoshi," Ryura rumbled, his voice much deeper than it normally would be. Unlike the water Dragon, Ryura was able to speak normally in this form. "How, exactly, am I to revert?"

Tsuyoshi, the wingless silver Dragon, looked at his Lord with a small nod then slowly wove his way around the other Naraku hunters to come to stand beside Ryura. He kept himself standing and with a jerk of his head silently asked for Ryura to rise as well. The blue Dragon carefully nudged Kagome out of the way with his snout, making the Miko giggle loudly, and he huffed hot air at her through his nose.

As he stood his form towered over Tsuyoshi's, his head easily able to see over top the ravine's high cliffs.

"Watch me carefully, Lord Ryura," Tsuyoshi said.

He gathered his youki into his body, his true form not requiring him to keep it pent up within him, and slowly he began to replace the barriers around his power that allowed him to keep his human form. He did this slowly, allowing Ryura to feel with his own aura and youki exactly what his Steward was doing.

Ryura repeated Tsuyoshi's steps, albeit much slower than Tsuyoshi himself had, until with a rush of air he was standing once more in his human form. His hair was unbound and his clothing was in disarray, while Tsuyoshi looked like nothing happened at all.

Tsuyoshi chuckled at Ryura's frown. "Worry not, my Lord. The more you practice, the better your reverting will become."

"It better be!" Ryura said, annoyed. Now he had to screw around with his hair, and he _hated _doing that.

With a soft grumble Ryura began correcting his appearance, straightening out his clothes and armor, retying the metal plates in the process. He adjusted Fujinga and Raijinga on his back until the swords were in their correct positions, then he began to work on his hair.

Kagome, who had been helping Miroku wake the others, quickly noticed Ryura's actions and excused herself politely. Sango was awake and adjusting to what had just happened, and Inuyasha's eyes were beginning to flutter open. She wasn't needed here at the moment.

As she walked, she fished around the black messenger bag Souta had let her keep, and right as she was reading Ryura, she pulled out her brush and two hair ties.

"Ryura?" she asked. When he looked at her, Kagome could tell he was annoyed by the look on his face.

That was until, at least, he saw the brush and hair ties in her hands. Ryura's face quickly lit up with a grin after and he nodded quickly to her unspoken question. He lowered himself to his knees to give Kagome better access to his head, and the Miko quickly went to work styling his hair how it was supposed to be.

His blue locks spilled through her fingers as she worked with it, placing the mane of hair in a high tail. Instead of his normal ribbon, she used one of the hair ties, then wrapped his white ribbon around it while explaining the hair tie was stronger, and would keep his hair in place longer than only a ribbon would.

Ryura couldn't be grateful enough. He hated – _loathed –_ having this long of hair, but he was required to keep it.

As Kagome's fingers deftly began to braid Ryura's hair, she looked over to the others and frowned slightly. Without stopping her work she asked, "Hey guys, where's Shippou?"

"Oh! We left him in a cave a few yards back. I'll go get him!" Sango said cheerfully.

Kagome smiled after her and went back to finishing off Ryura's braid, leaving the last few inches of it unbraided as he normally would have, and tying it off with the last hair tie she had pulled out earlier.

"I noticed you didn't hesitate or misfire while you were shooting, Kagome." Ryura's voice was filled with humor.

Instead of blushing as she would have before, Kagome simply laughed and lightly patted the top of his head. "Of course not. After what happened before? I don't think it'll ever be possible for me to be such a nervous wreck again."

"Oh really, now?" Ryura said with a smirk. He reached behind him and grabbed her forearm, tugging her down to him until they were almost nose to nose. His smirk only widened at the blush and nervous stutter that began to take her over. "Is that right?" he asked.

"M-maybe not!"

"Oi, whaddya two doing!?" Inuyasha bellowed when he saw their close proximity.

Ryura released Kagome with a sigh and she pulled back to stand straight once more.

"We were joking around, Inuyasha. Don't worry too much or you'll go bald," the Miko said jokingly.

"Feh, whatever!" Inuyasha grumbled.

Kagome grinned widely, "What was that, badly? I don't think I heard you!"

"B-baldy!? Y-you...!" Inuyasha yelled while raising a fist and shaking it at Kagome.

Ryura watched with a soft grin on his face. Inuyasha had begun to chase Kagome around in a wide circle, much like he would Shippou. He meant her no real harm, else he would have already caught her. Inuyasha had a grin rolled into a smirk and Kagome was laughing loudly.

His red eyes took in Shippou come bounding out from the side with a jogging Sango following him. The Kitsune leapt into Kagome's arms as she ran by and with that, Shippou joined in with the Miko and Inuyasha's fun. Shippou honestly had no idea what was going on, but he wasn't going to pass this up.

As they ran, Ryura rose himself from the squatting position and stretched his arms above his head while releasing a loud yawn. If he was this tired, the rest must be on their last legs.

"My Lord," Tsuyoshi mumbled at his side.

"Hm?" Ryura looked to him, running a hand through his hair, and raised a brow.

"There is a large cave nearby. It will fit all of us comfortably. If I may, I suggest we take shelter for the night and rest. There is a storm coming," Tsuyoshi said, turning his eyes towards the sky.

Ryura followed his gaze and gave a quick nod. "Very well. Help me round them up," he said with a grin as he tilted his head over the still running trio.

* * *

Tsuyoshi's head bobbed, then snapped back up with a force that sent the tail of his hair flying. With the hand not holding onto his spear he reached up and rubbed at his eyes. How many days was it since he had slept properly? Five?

He shook himself awake and shifted his position. Right now it was his turn to guard the entrance of the cave. Ryura had been forced beyond his limits. He had not slept since he first returned and was weak from the lack of youki. His last true rest had been almost a week ago, if not over a week. Mixed in with his youketsu being cut and his first transformation, the Dragon was dead on his feet by the time everyone had settled down. He was so tired that when he attempted to remove his armor, his hands stopped working like he wanted, and Tsuyoshi had to aid him.

When Ryura had fallen asleep sprawled out in one of the corners of the cave, Kagome and Tsuyoshi took the opportunity to check the wounds left over from his battle with Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru's healing treatment. Kagome had blushed something fierce when his shirt had been removed, but once the lingering wounds were shown to her, all thoughts of a bare chested Ryura went out the window.

With Miroku's aid, Kagome had been able to push Ryura's slowly recovering youki into a sort of an overdrive, forcing the two wounds to fully heal. Since he had been asleep, Ryura wouldn't notice it, nor would he feel his youki being pushed beyond its limits. He would possibly sleep well into the day after that.

Tsuyoshi took a quick glance over his shoulder, eyes scanning over the sleeping forms of his new-found companions. He had to chuckle at the situation. Never did he think he would be traveling with a group that consisted of three humans, a hanyou, and a kitsune child. It was a humbling experience. Youkai boasted about being the strongest, the smartest, the wisest, and the bravest, and yet...

It was this mixed group that was fighting the evil hanyou, Naraku. Lord Sesshoumaru, and now Ryura and Tsuyoshi, were the only pure-blooded youkai, if you didn't include Shippou and Kirara, who left the comforts of their home to track down the vile spider and slay him. When this was over, would youkai be able to brag about being the best?

Tsuyoshi didn't think so. The actions of Inuyasha's pack would be held over their heads for the rest of their long lives. The only youkai who would come out of this with honor would be Sesshoumaru, Ryura, Shippou, Kirara, Inuyasha, Kouga and his pack, and himself. Perhaps, after this, not all humans and hanyou would be seen as a stain upon the Earth.

The water Dragon lulled his head to the side, resting it on the shaft of his spear. His blue eyes took in the darkness of night, silently watching for any threats that could pose a problem. Outside the cave the remains of the diamond giant still littered the ground, causing Tsuyoshi to run over Kagome's words.

"I think Kanna saved us," she had said when asked her opinion on how none of them were harmed after the explosion. Kanna had sacrificed what was left of her life to save all of them from Naraku. She had finally gained a will of her own. Sadly it had come at such a late point in her short life.

Shuffling from behind him alerted Tsuyoshi to one of his companions being awake and he looked over his shoulder to see Inuyasha rising to his feet. He gave a quick swipe over his eyes with a sleeve of his red haori then meandered over to Tsuyoshi.

"Go sleep. I'll take over," he whispered, not wanting to wake anyone.

Tsuyoshi wasn't about to argue. He gave Inuyasha a grateful bow of his head then stiffly stood up. The hanyou took over guard duty and Tsuyoshi made his way towards the back of the cave where his Lord slept quietly. He stepped gently over the now dead fire and silently finished the trek until he was standing at Ryura's feet.

He flicked a glance to Ryura's side and let out a soft snort of laughter. Kagome was sleeping close to Ryura, rolled up in her sleeping bag with Shippou in her arms. On top of her rested Ryura's shirt, spread out to act as another blanket, just as Tsuyoshi had left it. The woman hadn't moved at all, showing Tsuyoshi just how tired she was. Even her hair was still in the same spread out position behind her as it had been when she fell asleep.

Not that he could blame her. He was just as tired as she, and with that thought in mind he took up a place on Ryura's other side. He kept his back against the wall of the cave and leaned his head against his spear. Before he drifted off, Tsuyoshi thought of Shippou then. Kagome was technically his mother, and considering Kagome was a part of Ryura's House, that meant by default Shippou was, too.

The House of Storms was slowly coming back to life, and Tsuyoshi couldn't of been happier.

Ryura was startled awake, again for the second time since he'd been returned to the living, by Inuyasha's sharp yell.

"Oi! The fuck you want, you mangy wolf!"

The Dragon Daiyoukai attempted to sit up, but found he had a little bit of extra weight added to him. He looked down and almost yelled, letting out a muffled yelp instead. Kagome was half way on his bare chest. She was still inside of her sleeping bag, his shirt a tangled mess around her with it, and Shippou was resting just between his body and Kagome's. His arm was wrapped around Kagome's back, but he couldn't feel it due to the thick material of her sleeping bag.

"Well..." came a familiar voice from his other side.

Ryura turned his head and gave Tsuyoshi a panicked look, then with his arm that wasn't wrapped around Kagome, he pointed to her and the Kitsune.

"I can come see my woman went I want, dog breath!"

Kouga's yell caused both Dragons to look at him, temporarily forgetting Ryura's awkward position. The wolf Prince was standing at the mouth of the cave with Inuyasha not more than two inches away from him. Neither Dragon could see his face, since Inuyasha was roughly about the same height as Kouga, but they could hear him good enough.

"How many times do I gotta tell you, Kagome ain't _your _woman!" Inuyasha yelled, not giving two cents if he was going to wake everyone up or not.

Kouga apparently didn't care either, "Yes she is! I claimed her a long time ago!"

"Ain't like that means anything unless she accepts! Which she hasn't, if you forgot!"

Ryura sighed loudly and laid back down while Tsuyoshi kept his eyes on the two men who were ranting and raving at each other. Ryura looked over and down at Kagome and Shippou. The two were sleeping peacefully, and he was starting to get worried the commotion would wake them up. With that thought in mind he growled softly out of annoyance at the situation, and carefully moved Kagome and Shippou away from him.

The Miko whined softly at the loss of Ryura's heat, making the Dragon Daiyoukai still at his movements. When she rolled to face the other way, dragging Shippou along with her, Ryura let out a breath he had been holding, then slowly rose to his feet, grabbing Fujinga as he went. He lifted the sword to rest on his shoulder and gave a quick crack of his slightly stiff neck.

Ryura threw a look at Tsuyoshi, who nodded and chuckled despite the situation. With a small yawn Ryura padded his way over to Inuyasha and Kouga, ruffling a hand through his hair, which oddly enough he found was unbraided and flowing freely down his back. When had that happened? He must have been more tired than he thought.

Ryura shook his head. Coming to a stop behind Inuyasha he put on his best annoyed face and cleared his throat.

"It cannot be any later than just after sunrise. What is the meaning of this?" he asked with a threatening tone. "Are you trying to wake the girls up?"

Inuyasha instantly stilled at hearing Ryura's voice and looked over his shoulder at the pissed off looking Dragon behind him. Ryura bounced his sword on his bare shoulder, waiting for an answer. Kouga, on the other hand, frowned and puffed up, stomping around Inuyasha to stand in front of Ryura.

"Who, exactly, the _fuck_ are you?" the wolf asked as he stuffed his arms over his chest in an arrogant manner.

Kouga gave him a quick look over and if he had been anyone else, he would have paled. This guy, this Dragon, was a Daiyoukai. This wasn't Inuyasha he was standing up to now. But, with the one tracked mind Kouga had, he smelled Kagome's scent layering the Dragon Daiyoukai heavily and growled.

"And why do I smell Kagome all over you!? You bastard, what did you do to _my_ Kagome!"

Ryura rolled his eyes. "I'm guessing this is Kouga, eh Inuyasha?" he asked while completely ignoring Kouga's question.

"Damn right it is. Can never have a goddamn day's peace without this fucker sniffing around," Inuyasha grumbled.

"Hey, answer me, asshole!" Kouga roared.

The wolf Prince had stepped forward and would have been directly in Ryura's face if the Dragon didn't have a height advantage. Ryura's eyes narrowed as he looked down to Kouga, a frown marring his face. His chest was rumbling with an unreleased growl.

"I am Ryura," he said simply, not going too much into who he was. A name would do for now.

Kouga tapped his foot, waiting for his other question to be answered.

Ryura sighed and closed his eyes. It was way too early for this.

"And you smell Kagome on me because she was sleeping against me," Ryura said honestly.

"What's wrong?" Sango's slurred voice interrupted Kouga from blowing his lid.

With blurry eyes the slayer looked over, then sighed heavily. "Oh, Kouga. I'm going back to sleep. Keep it quiet or I'll show you why I'm the only one of my clan still alive!"

Without waiting for an answer, Sango curled back under Kirara's tails. She was serious with her threat, the youkai could tell it.

"Outside. Now," Ryura said with a tilt of his head.

He stepped around Inuyasha and Kouga, moving out into the open air. A crunching noise under him signaled Ryura into realizing the dust from the battle the night before had not been completely blown away, and it also made him wonder just where in the hell were his boots, and the rest of his attire? He was only wearing pants, for Kami sake!

"So now you gonna tell me why you were sleeping that close to Kagome?" Kouga asked when they were far enough away to not rile the angry and tired Sango.

Inuyasha folded his arms into his sleeves and gave a snort. "That's 'cause he's her Lord now."

"What!?" Kouga yelped. He spun on his heel and _glared _at Ryura.

"You heard him, wolf. Kagome is the Miko of my House now," Ryura tilted his head against the blade of Fujinga as he spoke.

"And you just let this happen!? I knew you were stupid, Inuyasha, but _come on_," Kouga growled as he turned to the hanyou.

"Let what happen? Nothin's wrong with it, ya damn flea bag." Inuyasha said with a grown. "It's just an excuse for her to wear different colored Miko clothing, s'all. He ain't gonna make her do anything _weird, _he's already said as much."

"You believed him!? If that was the case, why didn't Kagome ask me!?"

Kouga was almost foaming at the mouth now he was so angry. He grabbed at his hair with both hands and gave it a firm tug, ignoring the pain it caused.

"I believe, as she said, it was because you would have gotten the wrong idea," Ryura muttered loud enough for both men to hear.

Inuyasha muttered, "Damn right he would've."

"My Lord," Tsuyoshi announced his arrival by addressing Ryura.

Ryura turned to the side to look at his Steward, who was ignoring the seething glare Kouga was giving him now, too.

"Lady Kagome is awake and asking if you and Inuyasha-sama would care for something to eat." Tsuyoshi completely ignored Kouga's existance for now. He wasn't about to greet the one who had woken him from the first sleep he had in days.

"Good goin', damn wolf. You went and woke Kagome up!" Inuyasha said while stalking past the wolf. "I'm gonna go eat," he said then he was off, heading back towards the cave.

Kouga visibly brightened and chased after Inuyasha yelling, "Kagome!"

Ryura and Tsuyoshi simultaneously sighed and one at a time, followed after the dust trail Kouga left behind.

The wolf Prince whirled into the cave with a brilliant smile on his face. He spotted Kagome instantly, who was putting her hair up. He ignored the others and rushed over to her, grabbing her and spinning her into a tight embrace.

Kagome yelled loudly at the surprise, even if she should have known better. Kouga's strong arms were wrapped around her and she could feel her stomach flip around from the lack of food at Kouga's spinning.

"Kouga!" she yelled. "I'm gonna be sick!"

Kouga let out a deep throated 'eep' and gently set Kagome down on her feet. As she wobbled around he put a hand on her shoulder to steady her as he leaned over slightly to look at her face. His other hand rested on his thigh, his weapon, Goraishi, glinting dangerously in the light of the fire against his dark skin.

"Sorry, Kagome..." Kouga said sheepishly. He didn't mean to spin her that much, but he just couldn't help himself. He lost control of his actions whenever he saw the Miko.

Kouga leaned back slightly, taking a good look at what she was wearing. His eyes fell on the symbol on her right shoulder and quick as lightning, he jumped a foot away from her.

"Y-you... that..." he sputtered out while pointing a finger at the crest.

Kagome blinked quickly and looked to where he was pointing. She was just about to tell him his treatment of her was fine, just to not do it again this early in the morning, but his backpedaling caused her to change her mind.

"This? It's Ryura's crest. The House of Storms," she said with a bright smile. "I'm the House's Miko!"

Kouga paled three shades and shakily ran his left hand through his hair. Ryura was _that _Lord? Oh no, this was _not _good.

"Indeed you are," Ryura said with a small smile as he neared them.

Kouga watched as Ryura passed Kagome, settling a hand on her shoulder that held the crest as he went. Kagome followed after him, fussing about going barefooted out into _glass _dust. Ryura gave her a grin and showed her the bottom of his foot. It was coated in the white dust, but otherwise unharmed. At seeing this, Kagome nodded and collected his shirt, handing it to him. He took it with a quiet murmur of thanks and slipped the white silk-like shirt over his arms.

As Ryura went about getting dressed, Kagome turned to face Kouga again. He was still pale, worrying her.

"Kouga? Are you all right?" she asked as she took a step near him.

Kouga took one step back.

"What...?" Kagome was confused _and _worried now. She'd never seen Kouga act like this.

"I can't, Kagome. I'm sorry. He's the Lord of the East. He's higher ranking than I am," Kouga admitted.

"But, I'm still your pack sister?" Kagome asked.

Ryura watched on from behind the Miko with a curious look on his face. The wolf Prince seemed to be naïve or air headed, but by his actions he proved he was anything but.

"You may approach my Miko, Kouga. I only ask that you be a little more gentle with her," Ryura rumbled as he slid on a boot.

Kouga gave Ryura a surprised look. "You... aren't going to stop me?"

"Why should I?" Ryura asked with a raised brow.

Kagome looked back and forth between the men. What was going on?

Miroku and Sango, both now awake, watched on with interest. Sango was quietly explaining what was happening to the monk.

"You see," she said in a low voice, "this is another youkai custom. Ryura owns Kagome to a certain degree. If he was an Inu, she would be a direct part of his pack, and considering there are no females in the pack besides Kagome, she would be considered the pack's alpha female."

Miroku nodded slightly, "And that explains Kouga's behavior how...?"

"Kouga's attempting to court Kagome. To do that, he needs her pack alpha's permission along with hers," Sango explained. "He's never seen Inuyasha as an alpha, because they're sort of even when it comes to power. Kouga might not have slew of special abilities like Inuyasha, but makes up for it in brute strength. If it came down to it, I'm not for sure who would win, especially since Kouga has Goraishi now."

Miroku's face lit up in understanding and together, he and Sango went back to watching.

Kouga shifted uncomfortably and scrubbed his face with his hands, mindful of Goraishi's claws.

"She's your Miko. You just said it!" Kouga exclaimed.

Ryura nodded slowly with understanding. "You wish for my permission to court Kagome," it was a statement, not a question.

Kouga blushed hotly and looked away, embarrassed. He nodded once. Kagome, seeing his actions, turned red herself.

"Well, that is truthfully up to her. Her Lord I may be, but who she courts is her choice," Ryura said with a small nod.

Outwardly the Dragon Daiyoukai appeared to be fine, but inwardly his emotions were in an uproar. His stomach was doing flips, and a lump was trying to form in his throat. Thing was, he didn't know why.

"Well, Kagome," he said once he forced the lump to disappear. "Do you want to court Kouga?"

Kagome squeaked and looked from Ryura to Kouga. She was blushing all the way to her ears now. Sure, Kouga had always said she was his woman and announced his intentions to mate with her, but she guessed a part of her never took it seriously until now.

At the fire, Inuyasha watched the three with a small frown on his face. He was wanting so badly to stand up and beat Kouga's head in, but his instincts were oddly keeping him in his place, and a youkai was nothing, even hanyou, if they didn't listen to _these _types of instincts.

Tsuyoshi watched from his place at the mouth of the cave. If Kagome did decide to court, and perhaps mate with the wolf Prince, it would serve to better their House. The House of Storms would gain the entire Eastern Wolf Tribe as firm and solid allies, and right now, Ryura's house desperately needed that.

But, was that what she wanted? Tsuyoshi knew she wasn't aware of youkai politics, and he wasn't about to say it now. Kagome seemed the type of person to choose others over herself. She would undoubtedly choose to mate with the wolf Prince to help Ryura's House gain more footing in the constantly evolving world of youkai politics.

No one made a noise, not even the groggy Shippou who had woken up in time to catch the tail end of the conversation. All eyes were on Kagome.

"Kouga," Kagome said once she steeled herself. If she could make it through Ryura's training, she could get through this. "I don't think... I could court you. I-mn, I just don't feel for you in that way."

Kouga smiled slightly and chuckled, "Yeah, I know."

"Then why...?" Kagome asked, startled.

"Couldn't hurt to try?" Kouga supplied.

Kagome smiled softly at him, one he returned. That look was soon replaced by one of seriousness, however, as he turned his gaze to Ryura.

"Lord Ryura," he started. "Kagome is a member of the Eastern Wolf Tribe. We adopted her a long time ago, and my pack adores her. She is our sister. She also has strong ties to the Princess of the Northern Yoro tribe."

Ryura nodded as he listened. He was leaning against a wall of the cave with his arms folded over his chest. What, exactly, was Kouga getting at?

"Because of that, I want to form an alliance with your House," Kouga finished.

Tsuyoshi coughed, almost choking at the surprise he felt. _That _normally didn't happen unless it was for true blood related members of another noble family or pack, like Kouga's. He quickly pushed himself from his position and moved over to stand at Ryura's side. Ryura had been out of practice as acting a Lord for a long time. It couldn't hurt for him to be closer to Ryura in case he needed help. This was serious business, after all.

"I will accept your proposal, Prince Kouga," Ryura said as he shifted to stand his full height.

Turns out Ryura didn't need Tsuyoshi's help, after all.

"Great!" Kouga said with a broad grin. "When I see Ayame next, I'll talk to her about this and see if we can convince her grandfather of the same thing."

"Truly?" Tsuyoshi asked this time, shocked yet again.

Kouga nodded in response once he took a good look at Tsuyoshi. He saw the same crest in the same place Kagome wore hers, and knew who this man must be.

"Ayame is my rightful intended. I promised her a long time ago I would marry her, and since Kagome has refused me, I intend to keep my promise." Kouga paused for a moment, "You see, Naraku wiped out most of my tribe. I'll rebuild it by joining with Ayame's along with a wild pack of ookami youkai who are looking to join a tribe."

"I see. I am sorry to hear that," Ryura said. "Seems we are in much the same position. You tribe allying with my House will only benefit the both of us in the future. Once Naraku is gone, I will retake my lands, and then we can work out something more solid, eh?"

Tsuyoshi looked between his Lord and Kouga, not saying anything. After a moment he slid his eyes over to Kagome and inwardly smiled. She was indeed a boon to the House of Storms, and she had done nothing except be herself, no political matings or marriages required. Tsuyoshi began wondering what else the little Miko would bring them in the future.

* * *

The group of shard hunters leisurely walked at their own pace with Inuyasha at the front. Sango and Kagome walked side by side, speaking quietly, Kirara sitting atop Sango's shoulder. Shippou was resting on Miroku's shoulder. Taking up the rear were Ryura and Tsuyoshi.

Kouga had left, saying he wanted to find his tribe and tell them the news, as well as seek out Ayame and ask for her assistance, and inform her that once Naraku was dead, he would take her for his mate.

Inuyasha couldn't of been happier that the wolf was gone, too.

The atmosphere between the group was calm and peaceful for once, and no one seemed bothered to try and interrupt it. It wouldn't last long, however.

Kagome felt a pang in her chest that hurt to the point she found it hard to breathe. She stopped walking and clutched at her haori, bunching the silky material between her fingers hard enough her knuckles turned white.

"Kagome!?" Sango exclaimed. She was instantly at her sister's side, placing her hands on Kagome's shoulders gently. "Kagome, what's wrong!?"

Sango's cries had the rest of the group's attention. Ryura was quickly pushing his way through the small throng of people that had formed around Kagome. When he knelt to look into her eyes, he found she wasn't looking at him, but at Inuyasha instead.

"K-k... Kikyou..." she gasped out. "Inu...we... Naraku.."

Ryura looked up to the hanyou and saw his face was a shade of white. He looked back to Kagome, then to the others. They all, aside from Tsuyoshi, held looks of shock on their face, and were staring at Inuyasha. He looked back at them for a few moments before spinning on the ball of his foot and leaping away with a power thrust that slightly cracked the ground.

Picking Kagome up in his arms, Ryura barked out, "Move! Tsuyoshi, keep up with him, go!"

The water Dragon was quickly in the air, taking after Inuyasha with fervor. Sango and Miroku hopped on the now transformed Kirara's back and followed after, with Ryura, Kagome and Shippou trailing behind them.

As they traveled, Kagome seemed to calm down and began to explain to Ryura and Shippou what she felt.

"Terror. It was from Kikyou. Since she has a piece of my soul I can feel strong emotions from her, which is rare. We have to hurry. She's still weak from Naraku's attack on her," she managed to pant out.

Ryura nodded and with a burst of his youki, he empowered everyone with a speed boost from the winds surrounding them. He held a grim look on his face as he moved to fly in front of Kirara. He could feel Tsuyoshi's aura ahead of them and used that as a guide to show the others the way.

What they came across, however, was enough to have even Miroku's teeth clenching as he tried not to let the tears fall that he felt gathering in his eyes.

Kikyou was walking across a large open field covered in lush green grass. Miasma seeped from her chest from an open wound. Her movements were stiff and jerky as she made her way for the stunned Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha..." she bit out, her voice rough and deep from the pain she was feeling.

That was enough for Inuyasha. He ran forward and caught her just before she fell and hit the ground. Lowering himself and Kikyou to the ground he began to rock them back and forth.

"Kikyou? What happened?" he asked loudly. He could hear his heart rushing in his ears and nearly had to shout to hear himself over the noise.

The two began to quietly talk with the rest of the group looking on with sadness. Kagome was crying now and had her face buried into Ryura's chest. The Dragon Daiyoukai held her tightly to him, knowing exactly why she was crying so hard, for she had whispered it to him.

"I-I can't save her... I'm not... I'm not strong enough."

Ryura grit his teeth and held her even tighter. If it was painful to Kagome, she didn't say anything.

Tsuyoshi moved closer to Ryura and Kagome. He too had heard the whisper and felt a shock. Kagome was this pure? Inuyasha was the person she loved, and Kikyou was the one he loved, the one who he would always compare Kagome to. Most women would have wanted this to happen, at least most youkai women. Kagome, on the other hand, was grieving that she couldn't save Kikyou. Did she truly love Inuyasha that much, or had she finally let go?

He sighed and placed his hand on Kagome's head, gently stroking her hair with his clawed fingers. Tsuyoshi didn't know what to make of the situation, but he, along with his Lord, would try to calm her as much as they could.

Day fell into night and before Kikyou passed on, she looked to Kagome and gave her a smile.

"You save my soul, Kagome. Thank you," she said with a weak voice. "Now you... you must find Kohaku."

Kikyou went on to explain the best she could about the light she left within Kohaku's shard of the Shikon no Tama, and that should it fall into Naraku's hands, it would purify him instantly because of the trap she laid within the Shikon no Tama itself.

When she was finished, Kikyou turned her gaze back to Inuyasha and smiled as best she could.

"I love you, Inuyasha," she whispered.

Inuyasha's body shook with a silent sob. He couldn't get the words out of his mouth over the choked feeling in his throat, so instead he leaned down and kissed her with as much emotion as he could, letting his actions speak for themselves. Kikyou's body began to glow blue shortly after that, and with a burst of light, dozens of souls escaped her body and flew off in random directions. A beautiful, bittersweet moment in time none of them would forget.

Finally a slightly larger soul excited her body and flew off into the air, disappearing amongst the stars. It was the shadow of the piece of a soul that had been keeping Kikyou alive all this time; it was the shadow of Kagome's soul.

As Kikyou's body faded from Inuyasha's arms, leaving him feeling hollow and empty, the rest could do nothing but silently grieve for Inuyasha and Kikyou. Sango was in Miroku's arms, crying as quietly as she could and the monk was staring off with glistening eyes at the spot that the final soul had disappeared. He was silently thanking Kikyou for her sacrifice.

Kagome was still pressed against Ryura with Tsuyoshi's hand on her head, except now between the Dragon Daiyoukai and her was Shippou, clinging to Kagome's haori and crying as well. Each and every single one of them felt Inuyasha's pain to varying degrees, and none of them thought it was fair.

But deep within them, they felt the fire of anger flair to life once again and silently they all agreed Naraku was going to die, and soon.

* * *

A.N.: I'm hoping to make the chapters longer as I go along! It's taking me a bit to get used to writing again, sadly. So far I'm in love with you guys who have reviewed! Hope you continue to enjoy it as much as I have writing it!


	20. Chapter 20: Shards of Life

Chapter 20:

Shards of Life

"They had nothing to say to each other. A five-year age gap between siblings is like a garden that needs constant attention. Even three months apart allows the weeds to grow up between you."  
― Zadie Smith,_On Beauty _

* * *

They were all moving as fast as they possibly could. Inuyasha had found a new vigor within him, possibly rage, and was moving faster than anyone had ever seen him move before now. He was pushing himself, and for good reason.

Kohaku was in danger. Kikyou's light was in danger, even if that was her plan.

Flying over an almost barren wasteland, the group were frantically looking down along the ground for any sign of the young boy. Sango was the most distraught. After all, it _was _her only little brother, the last of her family. She urged Kirara to move faster, and the fire nekomata obeyed. He was here, somewhere. Kagome could feel his shard, and Inuyasha could smell him.

All they could do was hope and pray they would find him first.

They found him being sent away by Kagura on a feather. She was now battling against Hakudoshi, for he had turned on Naraku and was wanting the shard for himself. He wanted to replace Naraku, to take the Shikon no Tama for his own, and Kohaku's shard was the key to doing that. Sango dropped Miroku off on the ground – more like forced him off – and was quickly on her way after her little brother, calling out to him as loudly as she could. Inuyasha wanted to go after her, but Kagome quickly stopped him.

"No, Inuyasha. This is something Sango has to do," she said gently, and the hanyou reluctantly agreed.

Inuyasha turned his gaze to Hakudoshi instead. "Time to finally die, ya little freak!"

Tessaiga was out of its sheath and dancing in Inuyasha's hands. Kagura watched from the sidelines in both fear and awe. Was Inuyasha trying to help her, or just saving her for later?

"Probably saving me for last," she muttered ruefully.

"I see you learn nothing, Inuyasha!" Hakudoshi taunted. "You know I will simply regenerate!"

Inuyasha didn't pay him any mind. He willed his blade to turn red and with one powerful swing, sent the Wind Scar rushing at the incarnation of Naraku. As Hakudoshi said, he regenerated fairly quickly. Miroku tried next, not caring if he would suck up the poisonous wasps as Hakudoshi taunted him with.

The saimyosho pulled back, and Hakudoshi let out a startled gasp. "What is the meaning of this!?" he screamed.

As a last act of defense, Hakudoshi released a miasma cloud, only for it to be purified by a Sacred Arrow shot from an angry looking Kagome with Ryura and Tsuyoshi standing on either side of her, weapons drawn.

Miroku let loose his Wind Tunnel then and with one final scream, Hakudoshi was sucked up into the endless void. The monk quickly wrapped his Wind Tunnel up, cutting off the tornadic like winds with a soft whisper of air. He didn't look back to the others as he turned and ran in the direction Sango had flown off in with Kirara. He _needed _to get to her.

The others left behind were quick to follow. Inuyasha was yelling at Miroku to wait, but the monk didn't act like he heard them. He was running so fast Inuyasha actually had to put in effort to keep up with him. Inuyasha knew the monk could be fast, but this was crazy. Ryura, carrying Kagome, and Tsuyoshi flying beside him had no problems keeping up with the monk, on the other hand. It was something that, despite the situation, Ryura teased Inuyasha about.

"Shut your fat face, Dragon!" Inuyasha bit out. "Screw you!"

Ryura chuckled darkly, almost sounding like a cackle. He had to keep Inuyasha angry. Ryura was worried what would happen if that anger left Inuyasha. It was no where near enough time for the hanyou to recover from the shock of Kikyou's second death. With this in mind he kept poking at Inuyasha, and no one tried to stop him. It was as if they _knew _what he was doing, and why he was doing it.

Miroku and Inuyasha jumped down into a ravine as Ryura and Tsuyoshi simply flew past them. Sango and her brother were close now, as was Moryomaru. Inuyasha had yelled his name, followed by a snarl that was Naraku's name once he and Miroku hit the bottom of the ravine. The information only made Miroku run faster.

Slowing himself down slightly and coming closer to the earth, Ryura twisted in the air and with one smooth motion dropped Kagome fluidly on the ground. With his hands now free he drew his swords and continued on without missing a beat. It was like he had never stopped at all. Kagome hopped on a foot until she found her balance just as Miroku and Inuyasha passed her. The Miko didn't have to chase after them, however. Inuyasha grabbed her on the way by and tossed her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Tsuyoshi flew over him and sternly said his name. Knowing what he wanted, Inuyasha tossed Kagome high into the air, only for her to fall into Tsuyoshi's arms, and then be swung around to his back. On instinct her legs and arms wrapped around him and her face pushed against the back of his neck.

"Do I look like a freakin' football to you guys!?" Kagome yelled in her rage at being tossed back and forth.

"Football?" Tsuyoshi asked over his shoulder.

Kagome groaned, "Oh, never mind! Just go faster!" She pointed ahead of them.

"As my Lady wishes," Tsuyoshi said with deep rumble of a chuckle that had Kagome slightly worried.

Tsuyoshi lightly landed on the ground, only to take off again like a bullet-train, and instead of being safely on the inside of a Japanese bullet-train, Kagome was on the outside. Except Tsuyoshi was the bullet-train, and Kagome's grip had become the tail his hair was in. She screamed at the top of her lungs as the world rushed by her in a blur. Faintly she saw the red and silver of Inuyasha streak by.

And she swore to the Kami-sama that she heard Inuyasha yell, "Good Kami, woman, shut your trap! My ears are gonna start bleeding!"

Tsuyoshi caught up with Ryura and quickly passed him, leaving the Dragon Daiyoukai coughing up dirt. He shook his head as he continued to fly with a faint grin. Tsuyoshi sounded like he was having fun, if his laughter was anything to go by and the sound of Kagome continuing to scream her head off. At least someone was enjoying this.

"Tssssuuuuyooosssshiiiii!" Kagome yelled, "If I could sit you I would!"

Tsuyoshi only laughed harder until he saw the battle before him. Sango was desperately trying to fend Moryomaru off with her Hirakotsu. Kirara was hanging back, keeping Kohaku pushed protectively against a cliff. The fire nekomata's fur was bristled, sticking up from her back and with her tails puffed out, snarling at anything that came too close.

The water Dragon came to a whirling halt, spinning quickly to slow himself down without forcing himself and Kagome too close to the battle. As for the Miko, however, she was let down and immediately began stumbling around, her eyes swimming with how dizzy she was. If it wasn't for Ryura catching her by the arm, she probably would have knocked herself out on one of the large boulders littering the ground.

Inuyasha came to a stop beside Ryura and Kagome, only to shoot forward again when Miroku _didn't _stop. He kept running and was soon involved in the battle. Everyone followed his actions, and Moryomaru was left stunned by the force that was suddenly attacking him. Ryura was lashing out with everything he had, as was Tsuyoshi, their weapons crackling merrily with the energy of their youki. Inuyasha released a Wind Scar and Kagome joined one of her arrows into the midst. All in all, it provided a safe barrier for Sango to grab Kohaku, despite his wishes, and high tail it out of the area on Kirara.

She landed on the cliffs high above and only then did she let go of Kohaku. They watched the battle happening before them with Sango holding onto Kohaku in such a way he wasn't able to flee like he was wanting to. He didn't want to hurt his sister, not again. Never again. If he stayed, he'd hurt her. He _knew _it. But he was pinned down with his arms behind his back. Sango was holding his wrists together with her hands and her knee was pushed into his left shoulder, effectively keeping him from moving much beside in a small wiggle.

No one noticed the lumps of flesh inching their way up the cliffs towards Kohaku.

Kagome had slowly walked over to a prone figuring laying on the ground off to the side. The person was covered in blood as Kagome warily made her way over, shooting arrows off whenever Inuyasha would release one of his attacks. Her movements still instantly when she saw who the person was.

"_Kouga!_" her yell was filled with terror, causing half of the battle's participants to turn and look at her.

She sank to her knees beside him and quickly started to dig out things to help stop the blood almost gushing from his legs. She couldn't feel the shards anymore, and she knew what had happened, but it wasn't something she could worry on at that moment. If Kagome didn't stop the bleeding, youkai or not, Kouga was going to die. Too many arteries, too much blood.

Kagome pushed down on both of his legs with a towel she would normally use for bathing, but it didn't seem like her strength would be enough, not until Ryura suddenly dropped down beside her and placed his hands on top of hers. With his added strength, Kagome was able to slowly make the bleeding slow to a trickle, and when it had, she set about wrapping Kouga's legs in bandages.

Both she and Ryura were covered in blood now, Kouga's blood to be exact.

Ryura took up a defensive position behind Kagome. He kept Fujinga at the ready, wind whistling around the metal of the blade. If anything dared to come near her and the injured wolf Prince, Ryura was prepared to tear them apart.

"Dragon Strike!"

Blue lightning in the form of a dragon danced around the group's location suddenly, and heads whipped around to see Sesshoumaru descend from the air in fury, his face etched into one of an almost hypocritical calm rage. He clashed with Moryomaru and yet again the tides were turned. The Inu Daiyoukai sped around Moryomaru, deftly dodging round after round of attacks the incarnation of Naraku would send at him. He spun on his heel and leaped high into the air, taking a moment to look around the battlefield. Spotting Kagome he watched her for a moment with Kouga and Ryura.

"Sesshoumaru!" Kagome called out right as she finished tying off the last of Kouga's bandages.

Ryura helped her move Kouga out of the way, safely hidden between a cliff of the ravine and a large boulder. After helping the Miko to her feet, Ryura jumped back into the fray with a fast growing grin. Kagome stayed behind to protect Kouga, and continued where she left off of firing arrows to mingle with the attacks Daiyoukai who were fighting.

Neither side relented, everyone gave every thing they had in them.

"I see. Kagura has finally done it. She's finally gotten herself killed. Isn't that wonderful, Sesshoumaru-_sama_!" Moryomaru suddenly snarled as he caught a whiff of Kagura's scent on the air, and her blood.

Sesshoumaru was furious now, but he said nothing. He pushed against Moryomaru with such a strength it broke through Moryomaru's "unbreakable" armor and broke Tokijin in the process, snapping in half with a loud shatter of now dead power. It was then, with a huff of annoyance, Moryomaru wisely decided to pull himself from the battle. If his armor was cracked, then surely that annoying Miko shooting arrows at him would be able to strike it with her reiki, and he would be in far more trouble then than he was now.

When he and his scent disappeared into thin air, Sesshoumaru frowned.

"Tsk," he tutted. He turned then to address his rampaging brother who was cursing at the sky. "Inuyasha."

"What!?" Inuyasha snapped.

"Watch over the boy," Sesshoumaru responded.

Inuyasha began ranting again about Sesshoumaru apparently thought he was stupid, but Sesshoumaru seemed to ignore it. He made his way for Kagome and when he reached her, he stopped within half a foot from her.

"Uh... Sesshoumaru?" Kagome asked nervously as she looked up to the Inu Daiyoukai.

Sesshoumaru stared at her with some unfamiliar emotion, which was gone with a blink of his eyes.

"It suits you, Miko," he said cryptically.

Without another word, Sesshoumaru took to the air. He needed a new sword. One that preferably wouldn't break as easily as Tokijin had, the useless piece of junk. Never trust Naraku to make something that lasted longer than a few months. The blade had been made from one of his incarnations that broke Tessaiga, after all.

"What was... that about?" Kagome asked to no one in particular.

"I believe he meant your new appearance, Lady Kagome," Tsuyoshi answered her.

Inuyasha stepped between everyone and waved his arms. "In case you forgot, we kinda need to check Kohaku!"

Everyone snapped to attention and made their way to where Sango was still restraining Kohaku. Miroku took over for her, his strength greater than Sango's, which made it nearly impossible for Kohaku to escape.

"You can let me go. I won't run," Kohaku said honestly. His arms were starting to hurt.

With Sango's nod of permission, Miroku allowed Kohaku free. The boy took a few steps away and rotated his arms with a small frown. He was lucky they weren't dislocated with how hard Miroku had been holding him. As he did this, Kagome and Sango went into a question frenzy.

A small thin piece of flesh broke through Naraku's neck right before he could even think of their questions. The shard of the Shikon no Tama flew from his neck, and as quickly as the event happened, the light faded from Kohaku's eyes. He dropped to the ground as a lifeless heap.

Sango screamed in horror and dropped down beside him, _"__Kohaku!"_

Kagome followed after Sango and began to work on focusing her reiki into a healing energy as she tried desperately to spark Kohaku's heart back to life, taking a page from the medical books of her future. She had to save him, she _had _to. She needed to save him for not only Sango, but for herself, as well. This was her fault, she felt, because if she had taken better care she would have noticed Naraku's flesh inching towards him, she would have _felt it_. She would have stopped it. Kohaku would still be alive.

For the second time in almost a day and a half, Kagome felt weak and helpless. First Kikyou, now Kohaku.

Both women tried everything in their power to bring the boy back to life, but it proved futile. Miroku and Inuyasha had to drag the women away and hold them back. He was gone, and they all knew it. Not even Sesshoumaru and Tenseiga could save Kohaku now without the shard to keep his soul tied to his body.

As Sango and Kagome continued to scream at the boy's loss, Ryura slowly inched forward and knelt down. With his right hand, he ran his fingers gently over Kohaku's eyes, closing them for the final time. He kept his hand on the boy's forehead as he murmured a small prayer to Touga, asking the Kami to watch over Kohaku and see to it that he wouldn't feel any more pain. It was the least Kohaku deserved due to the amount of torture he was subjected to since he was made to slaughter his own family.

Ryura's eyes snapped open. Under his hand he thought he felt Kohaku shift slightly, and he jerked his hand back as if it he had been burned. He watched with wide eyes as Kohaku took one rattling breath, and then another. Ryura could hear the beating sound of the boy's heart begin once more.

"Sango!" Ryura yelled to gain both her and Kagome's attentions.

Kohaku started coughing and Ryura rolled him over on his side as Sango wrenched herself free of Miroku's hold. She landed on her knees beside Kohaku and bent over, running a hand through his hair as she talked to him with urgency.

"Kohaku, can you hear me? Kohaku!" she exclaimed.

Brown eyes that mimicked Sango's slowly opened and Kohaku gave his sister a weak smile.

"Sister..." he said before he started to cough again.

Kagome shakily fished out a bottle of water from her pack and twisted the cap off, handing it to Ryura and telling him to make Kohaku drink it slowly. The Dragon Daiyoukai nodded and maneuvered Kohaku around until the young slayer was half sitting up. He instructed Kohaku to take small sips of water, and when he was finished, Kohaku smiled gratefully at him.

"Thank you," Kohaku murmured.

"How...?" Sango asked, bewildered as she looked to Ryura.

Ryura frowned with his brows creasing together. "I don't know. I didn't do anything..." he admitted.

"Kikyou's light," Kagome answered softly. "She gave it to Kohaku."

While everyone was ecstatic and grateful to Kikyou, they slowly began to realize that Kikyou's final plan to rid the world of Naraku would now fail. Her light was gone from the last shard now, and without it, it was going to be twice as hard to combat against Naraku now. He held all the pieces of the Shikon no Tama. It was full and corrupted.

Kagome could feel it within her very soul. It left her feeling chilled, as if she would never be warm again. Against her will she scooted a bit closer to Tsuyoshi and Ryura, trying to soak up the warmth they naturally emitted as Dragons. Her arms wrapped around herself and she shuddered. Now what was going to happen?

* * *

The exhausted group of Naraku hunters slowly made their way into Kaede's village. Kohaku was recovering and everyone needed the rest. If they weren't physically exhausted, they were emotionally exhausted. Even though the sky had opened up and drenched them with rain, no one seemed to pay attention.

Kagome rested on Tsuyoshi's back with her arms draped over his shoulders. The water Dragon was doing his best to keep the Miko dry, hence him carrying her instead of Ryura. Even then some of the rain managed to break through and Kagome's hair was plastered to her face with trail ends of her ponytail sticking to Tsuyoshi's neck as the Miko rested her head on his unarmored shoulder.

"Hey, do you think anyone would care if I went home? I have a lot of exams..." Kagome muttered, too tired to speak any louder.

Tsuyoshi craned his neck a bit to look down at Kagome, then he smiled softly. "I do not think the others would be against it," he said with a small nod.

The water Dragon sped up a bit until he came to walk in time with his Lord, and he told both him and Inuyasha of Kagome's request. The hanyou muttered and told her to do what she wanted. Ryura on the other hand smiled faintly and with a quick switch, he took over carrying Kagome's half-asleep form. He didn't say anything to the others as he turned and began to walk the other way in the direction of the well.

By the time he and Kagome reached the clearing, Kagome was fast asleep. Ryura sighed, coming to a halt with the toes of his boots lightly grazing against the wood of the well. He gazed down into the darkness, wondering just how he was going to get Kagome over to her time without just dropping her down the well and leaving her to fend for herself on the other side. Inuyasha was supposedly the only one who was able to pass over, but the hanyou was back at the village, and Ryura didn't want to keep Kagome out in the rain any longer than he had to. Ryura tilted his head and pondered. If he jumped into the well, would it take him too, or just leave him standing at the bottom without Kagome?

He faintly remembered Touga saying he was the one who ripped a portal in time, due to Kagome's presence needed in the past. If the Daiyoukai turned Kami had been speaking the truth, which he most likely was, then by all rights Ryura would be allowed to cross over as well. It couldn't hurt to try, right? Closing his eyes for a moment before hopping up on the lip of the well, Ryura gave the darkness once last glance before stepping off into it.

Landing on the bottom with a dull thump, Ryura looked around, confused. Nothing was happening, yet a part of him wasn't surprised. He lifted a foot off the ground and hummed with thought. Kagome was still in his arms, so that was at least one thing to be thankful for. She didn't disappear and end up on her side of the time-stream without a way to get herself to safety.

Ryura tilted his head back to look at the still darkened sky that was releasing its torrent of rain on the earth. He crouched then, intending on jumping out and just moving quickly to the village, but he didn't get the chance. At his feet an arcane rune flared outwards, covering the bottom of the Bone-Eater's Well. Blue and black magic swirled outwards from the rune and clung tightly to Ryura and Kagome, pulling them away into the space between the times. The Dragon Daiyoukai was forced to close his eyes at the intensity of the light, and when he opened them again, he found himself floating in almost void like space – again.

Uneasiness settled on his heart.

It was fine, he told himself. Kagome was still with him. There were small, firefly like lights dancing about them. They gave off a small ethereal light, just enough to see by. He wasn't engulfed in darkness again. He wasn't alone. He could still feel his body, could still smell Kagome and his own scent. He could still feel her in his arms, could feel the weight of his armor on his body and the weights of his swords on his back. He was okay.

Ryura's breath left him in a rush as the experience ended and he was standing on solid ground once more. He took a moment to calm down his racing heart while surveying his surroundings. He was still in the same well, except it seemed it was surrounded by a type of hut now, blocking off any view of the outside world from his eyes. Below him the earth vibrated softly with some unknown force. He could only silently wonder what it was.

His ears twitched as he faintly picked up sounds completely new to him. High pitched wails that, if he were Inu, would have made his ears bleed. His nose stung slightly with the scents that assaulted his nose. In the end, Ryura was forced to dial back his senses. The more he listened, the more he smelled, the more he _felt, _the more overwhelming everything became. Ryura shook his head and leaped out of the well, landing on top of a small stair case. The doors of the strange hut were right in front of him, and he was forced to slide them open with a foot.

Sunlight temporarily blinded him and he blinked quickly to rid himself of the dark spots in his vision. When his eyes were clear he sucked in a quick breath. As far as he could see there was no grass. Stone layered the ground, reaching outwards towards a Tori Gate off towards his left. Without the natural vegetation in the way, Ryura could easily see the Tree of Ages looming on one of the corners of the Shrine. Ahead of him stood a home Ryura knew to be too large for any normal family. He stole a glance down to the girl in his arms, wondering if she was more than she explained herself to be. It was a question that would have to wait until later.

Ryura walked for the house and stopped just at the door, wondering what in the hell kind of contraption it was. It had some sort of knob on it, and a window covered in glass was towards the top. He gave it a glare of death, frustrated with not knowing how to open it. He heard a giggle and his eyes shot down to the slightly awake Kagome. She had a goofy smile on her face, and just by looking at her drooping eyes, Ryura could tell she was still tired.

"Here," she said softly, "Let me help."

The Miko reached out and twisted the strange knob, then gave the now slightly cracked open door a weak push. It swung open enough for Ryura to shoulder it the rest of the way, and soon enough he was standing in the living room of Kagome's home. He toed his boots off.

With a yawn Kagome pointed at a stair case. "My room is up there. No one's home right now, 'cause it's a weekday."

"Weekday...?" Ryura asked as he walked towards where Kagome pointed.

He followed his nose from this point on and listened to Kagome explain.

"Yeah, means it's when we normally work or go to school. We have the weekends off, some of us at least," she muttered, still too tired to speak any louder.

Ryura nodded slowly, not truly understanding the point of it. He came to a stop in front of the door that smelled the most like Kagome and with a foot, nudged it the rest of the way open. It had been partially open before, and now Ryura was staring at _the _most pink room he had ever seen in his life.

A futon was raised off the floor, and Ryura guessed that to be her bed. He carefully set her down on it, and Kagome rolled to sit up. She needed to change, else she was going to get sick or ruin her bed. She stumbled to her feet and almost blindly opened a drawer, fishing out pajamas. Wobbling her way over to her door, she left the room and entered another with the door closing and locking behind her.

Left to his own devices, Ryura took the chance to look around. Her personal room was almost the size of the main room of Kaede's hut, which had Ryura believing Kagome was yet again noble born. His eyes took in a high desk with a chair in front of it, and on top of the desk laid different types of books. Ryura's curiosity got the best of him and he flipped the cover off one book and went through a few pages.

Numbers, charts, tables, and mathematical formula, not that Ryura would know what those were, popped back at him, and he quickly shut the book, thinking it was some kind of demon. Just what in the world _was that_? As if it was a dirty rag, Ryura picked up the book and tossed it to the other end of the desk, then set his sight on the book below it.

It took him a bit to get used to the style of kanji used, but he eventually made out the words, _Forest Eyes: Selected Poems of a Mountain Home_ scrawled out artfully on the cover. Below the words rested a name, _Tada Chimako. _He guessed her to be the author.

When Kagome returned from changing and wringing out her hair, she caught Ryura sitting awkwardly at the chair of her desk, hunched over her poem book. He held a clawed finger to one of the pages and was slowly reading the words. Kagome guessed the differences of kanji was making it a bit difficult, but he looked to be managing well. She let out a quiet chuckle and came to stand beside him. He looked so out of place and so _big_ in her room. His presence was a commanding one, Kagome wouldn't deny that.

Wrapping her arms around Ryura's shoulders, Kagome murmured, "Thanks for bringing me here."

Ryura sat straight and blinked, opening his mouth to say something, but he stopped himself when Kagome let go. He twisted slightly to watch her climb into her bed and give him a bright smile as she settled herself into a comfortable position.

"Make yourself at home. I'm just going to take a nap," she said as she wrapped her arms around a stuffed animal and held it tightly to her chest.

"Rest well, Kagome. I will try to be here when you wake," he promised with a half-grin in her direction.

Kagome gave him a final, sleepy smile and with no time at all, was deeply asleep, snoring softly. Ryura smiled faintly and rose from the odd chair, setting down the book as he stood. He slid Fujinga and Raijinga from their sheaths and settled them against a nearby wall. His armor came next, joining his swords in a pile against the wall. When he was only wearing his clothing, he picked the book back up and sat with his back against Kagome's bed.

He felt more comfortable on the floor than in the chair, apparently.

Time passed by slowly as Ryura busied himself reading through the book of poems. He had never seen them before, and they were very well written, by a woman to boot. Normally, in his era, women didn't produce any works such as this, simply because nearly all human women didn't know how to read or write. Unless, of course, they were nobility. He sneaked a suspicious glance back at Kagome. Tutoring, reading, writing – she had to be of noble birth.

Minutes fell into hours and the only sounds heard in her room were Ryura flipping pages of the book and Kagome's soft snoring. Ryura was starting to read faster, picking up on the modern styled kanji and no longer needed to keep his place with a finger. By the time he heard the door downstairs open, he had just finished the last page. Hearing someone come into the home surprised Ryura and he quickly stood, the book laying forgotten on the floor, and made his way for the door of Kagome's room. He grabbed Raijinga as he walked past and kept the sword resting to his side. The Dragon Daiyoukai's footfalls were soft as he trotted down the stairs.

Only to come face to face with a woman who promptly screamed when she saw him.

"Who are you!?" she yelled as she held up her purse defensively.

Ryura looked at her carefully, then let out a laugh. The woman was definitely Kagome's mother. Their features were almost identical, even if they had different coloring. Kagome's mother only looked at Ryura with shock as he laughed, and then jumped back with a terrified squeak when he bowed deeply to her.

"Forgive me, Lady Higurashi. I did not mean to scare you," he straightened himself with a smile and looked to her once more. "I am Ryura the Dragon. I brought your daughter home."

"Oh!" she sighed with relief. "Kagome's friend."

"You believe me so easily?" Ryura asked, shocked.

Hitomi smiled. "You look just like she described, Ryura."

"Kagome... She told you of me?"

Hitomi nodded and laughed at the look on his face. The man looked shocked beyond belief that Kagome would even mention him in passing, never mind going into full detail about how he looked and who he was. Hitomi wanted to tease him because of it.

"It was the last time she was home," Hitomi began with a secret smile. "Kagome simply _gushed _over you, Ryura. I can't begin to explain how excited she looked while telling me about you. _'His hair, mama, his hair - it's so soft and shiny! And his eyes look like rubies!'_ were a few of the things she said, I believe."

It wasn't far from the truth either. Kagome _had _gushed over the youkai standing in front of Hitomi. Her little girl was growing up and was taking a more advanced interest in men. Never had Hitomi heard Kagome speak so highly of a man before, and it left a small pang of parental worry in her heart. Her little girl, her eldest child, was becoming a woman.

Well, Hitomi thought, at least she had chosen such a good looking man to gush over.

Ryura held a blush that covered his cheeks and he refused to look at the woman. Hitomi couldn't help herself.

"You know," she said as she walked past him further into the living room to set down her bags, "Not even Inuyasha got that sort of attention. Sure, she spoke lightly on how he looked and acted, but you... Now _that's_ a different story."

Ryura cleared his throat and awkwardly looked to the floor at his feet. Kagome had really talked about him to that extent? What was going on!?

"Anyway, dear!" Hitomi clapped her hands with a laugh. "Where is my daughter?"

"Ah... um..." Ryura couldn't speak. He simply pointed above himself to where Kagome was sleeping.

"Oh, poor thing... She must be exhausted. I'll start cooking a nice dinner for when she wakes up, then!" Hitomi cheerfully chirped. "You're welcome to help me if you want, Ryura!"

* * *

Kagome's nose twitched, then twitched again. Slowly her eyes fluttered open and she inhaled. What _was _that smell? It almost smelt like oden. She was up and out of bed without any further thought. Grabbing clothes out of her closet and zooming off to the bathroom, Kagome couldn't help herself. She started to drool. It had been such a long, long time since she had her mother's oden.

She quickly took a bath and dried herself off, dressing in a pair of faded light blue denim jeans and a white tank top. Rushing back to her room once her hair was dry, she pulled out a beige knit sweater and tossed it over her head, pulled on a pair of socks, and then almost ran down the stairs and towards the kitchen.

Kagome could hear voices from outside. Her little brother, Souta, was excitedly chattering away, asking questions that seemed a bit weird to Kagome.

"I am a Dragon, yes."

Ryura's deep voice answering her brother had Kagome in almost a panic. She had forgotten in her starved rush to get dressed that Ryura was the one who brought her home! How many ofudas did her grandfather try to plaster him with? How many questions had Souta been asking him, and dear Kami above what did her_ mother _think!?

It was every little boy's dream to meet a Dragon. She had to stop Souta before he asked some silly question like for Ryura to take his true form!

She pushed her way into the room and squeaked at what she saw. Ryura was standing at the stove next to her mother, looking over his shoulder every now and then to answer Souta's questions. The Dragon wasn't wearing any armor, and was simply dressed in his white attire and barefooted. Kagome's grandfather sat at the kitchen table, staring at Ryura's back.

Souta noticed his sister's entrance first and quickly was standing in front of her.

"You have such a cool friend, Kagome! He's a Dragon, a real live Dragon!" Souta excitedly yelled.

Kagome gave in then and laughed while ruffling Souta's hair. "Yep, he's a Dragon all right. Maybe if you're good I can convince him to show you what he _really _looks like?"

Souta's face lit up then and he nodded rapidly. "I'll be good, I promise!"

"Kagome..."

Oh boy. Now it was time to face her grandfather, and he didn't sound too pleased.

* * *

A.N.: I adore you guys!

_Forest Eyes: Selected Poems of a Mountain Home _by Tada Chimako is actually a real book. Should check it out!


	21. Chapter 21: The Ties that Bind Us

Chapter 21:

The Ties that Bind Us

"Invisible threads are the strongest ties."  
― Friedrich Nietzsche

* * *

Kagome had spent the last hour explaining to her family just exactly who Ryura was at her grandfather's behest - yet she left out the fact Ryura had once attempted to kill her. The elder man had not been too happy that a fully grown, unknown man had been in the house alone with Kagome. The fact the man was _youkai_ didn't help anything, either. Inuyasha her grandfather could put up with, because he had known him longer and trusted him to a degree, and was a half-youkai, a hanyou. But Ryura? No.

Ryura couldn't honestly blame the man, who had introduced himself as Daisuke. If he had been in Kagome's grandfather's place, Ryura knew he would have felt the same way. And so, Ryura remained quiet, listening to Kagome tell his tale for him, only interrupting when he personally needed to explain something instead.

Daisuke sat in his chair with a small, yet thoughtful, frown on his face.

"He is a Lord, just as Inuyasha's elder half-brother is," Daisuke drawled.

Kagome nodded, "Yes. He has a Steward named Tsuyoshi, a water Dragon Daiyoukai," Kagome repeated. "He's the one who helped my hair grow."

"And he is the son of a powerful house of Air Dragon Daiyoukai, called the House of Storms," Daisuke further summed up.

Kagome nodded again, "And he's rebuilding it. There's only three people in it. Ryura, me, and Tsuyoshi."

"Shippou too, Kagome," Ryura said.

Kagome's eyes boggled. "Shippou is? Since when?"

"The moment you joined, Kagome. You are basically his mother," Ryura explained with a nod.

Kagome stuttered and looked away, knowing he was right. It wasn't she had spoken with Shippou directly about, however, and Kagome wasn't for sure he felt the same way. He was a full grown youkai, and there were things she knew she could never give him. Teaching him about the world of youkai, for one. Ryura seemed to sense her inner turmoil and reached over to lay a gentle hand on her head. He gave her hair a quick ruffle and smiled when she looked at him.

"Trust me, Kagome. He sees you as his mother," he said softly.

Daisuke watched their interaction, eyes flicking back and forth between the two. Kagome was obviously close to the man, and Ryura treated her well from what Daisuke had seen and heard so far. He accepted Kagome into his House for no other reason than to save her embarrassment over her manner of dress, which allowed her to dress as one of her station normally would without looking too much like Kikyou.

Oh, yes. Daisuke knew of Kagome's low self-esteem when it came to Kikyou. Many a times had he heard her crying, and overheard the conversations Kagome would have with her mother. While he didn't mind Inuyasha, Daisuke wasn't afraid to smack the boy over the head, and staunchly refuse to agree to a relationship between the hanyou and his granddaughter. Nope, he just wouldn't do it. Being close friends was one thing, and getting married to each other was a completely different thing altogether.

But with his aging eyes he could easily see the chemistry between Kagome and Ryura. Perhaps, just maybe, if Kagome chose the Dragon, Daisuke would find a small sliver of peace knowing his granddaughter would be taken care of. She had to finish her schooling first, though!

Daisuke let out a soft grumble once the two stopped speaking.

"Fine, fine. I'll allow it – _however, _you are not to get pregnant before you graduate high school. Is that understood, Kagome?" Daisuke asked with a firm tone.

Both Ryura and Kagome instantly went beat red, with the Miko stuttering and fumbling around with the hem of her shirt.

"W-what? Grandpa!" Kagome squeaked out.

Even Hitomi blushed lightly, "Oh my..."

Ryura just couldn't say anything at all. It was impossible. Just... _what_? He ended up staring at Daisuke with wide, shocked eyes. Is _that _what the man was thinking? What was up with the males in this family thinking he was going to end up in a romantic relationship with Kagome? Even Touga had mentioned it before! Apparently the elder man's mind jumped into a different pool of relationships all together.

Like father like son, Ryura ruefully grumbled in his head.

The Dragon flicked a look at Kagome's brightly blushing face. If he honestly thought about it, would it be so bad to actually give into the males of the Higurashi family's thoughts and enter a relationship with Kagome? She was incredibly powerful, possibly stronger than Midoriko herself had been. She was kind, good with children as shown with both Rin and Shippou, and she showed how undeniably pure and caring she was by her every day actions. She was honorable, too.

Ryura continued to roll the thought around in his head. Once, when he first met Kagome, even Sesshoumaru expressed that if he were to mate Kagome, he would be extremely proud of the heir she could give him. It didn't matter if she was human. He took on a thoughtful appearance while continuing to look at Kagome. Resting an elbow on the table, he placed his chin in his hand and tapped his clawed fingers against his cheek.

Hitomi recognized that look Ryura was giving Kagome. Her late husband, Hikaru, had much the same look when considering things directly related to herself. In fact, he looked like that right before he proposed to her. This revelation caused Hitomi to smile softly. She only wanted her daughter to be happy, no matter which era she chose once her journey was over. If Kagome did choose Ryura at the end of this harrowing adventure, then Hitomi would accept it.

With that she rose to her feet and went to reheat the meal she had been preparing. Surely by now the food would be slightly cold, and she refused to feed Kagome and her guest a poorly prepared meal.

Kagome continued to look down at her hands balled into fists around the hem of her sweater. What was her grandfather thinking? What about Inuyasha—no, Kagome stopped herself there. If she was going to truly let go of her love for Inuyasha, she had to stop thinking in such ways. Inuyasha was a friend, almost like a brother, nothing more. Now if only her heart would keep up with her mind, that would be great, thanks.

She glanced at Ryura and her heart thumped hard against her ribs. Maybe her heart wasn't slow, after all. Not that Kagome would admit that right now.

* * *

Dinner was over and everyone went about their normal daily activities. Souta had been forced into doing his homework by Hitomi, and the boy had fought against it the entire time. It wasn't every day he got to talk to a _Dragon_, of all things! In the end, however, Hitomi won and Souta was now tucked away in his room, intent on finishing his homework as fast as he could, hopefully before it was time for him to go to bed. He didn't know how long Ryura was going to be here, and he wanted to talk to the Dragon as much as he could.

Kagome was busy with her own homework and studying. Both she had sorely fell behind on while having to carry around Raijinga and Fujinga before Ryura returned. She was so behind that in her mind's eye she was imagining how horrible she was going to do on the exam come Monday morning. Kagome steeled herself. Even if it took the two full days she had left, she would pass the tests on Monday. She wouldn't allow herself to fail.

Thankfully Ryura noticed the determined look on Kagome's face and kept himself occupied by reading another book she had given him. He lounged on her bed, his long form dwarfing the pink covered high-rise futon to the point his feet hung off the edge. Kagome had always thought her bed to be a little big, until she saw Ryura on it, then she realized just how small it was. Before she started to really work on her homework, she honestly thought about saving up her allowance to buy a bigger bed just for times like these, but she didn't know how many times Ryura would come to visit with her. It would probably be a waste of money. And besides, who would buy a bigger bed just so one of their friends could lounge around on it anyway?

The question of how he passed through the Bone-Eater's Well to begin with had been bothering Kagome, and she couldn't find it in herself to truly focus on her work. She finally gave up and turned to sit sideways in her chair, eyes looking to Ryura.

He had one arm behind his head, propping it up with his other hand holding the book and resting on his chest. His hair was unbraided and spilling like a waterfall from her bed to rest on the floor beside him. At the edge of her bed, his feet were crossed at the ankles. Over all, the Daiyoukai looked comfortable and was absorbed in the book he was reading. Seeing him like that, Kagome didn't have the heart to interrupt him. Her question would have to wait for later. She half-smiled and turned back to her work, flipping open her math book.

This was going to be _hell_.

The pages of a book being turned, scratching of a pencil, and the sound of a clock ticking away filled the room. Kagome grumbled softly every now and then, usually about how much she _hated _math. Ryura would look over to check on her every now and then, and some times would watch her working.

That reminded him...

"Kagome?" he asked as he laid the book down on his chest.

She wrote for a bit longer before looking up and over her shoulder at him. "Hm?"

"This is quite a large house, and considering what you are doing right now... I cannot help but think your family is nobility," Ryura said honestly.

Kagome laughed and shook her head. "We're not. Our house is actually kind of small compared to some others. It's safe to say we're considered middle-class. Not at the bottom, yet not at the very top, either."

She turned now to get a better look at him and wrapped her arms around the back of her chair, laying her head down on the smooth wood.

"Every child ranging from the ages of five to eighteen are required to go to school. Most of it is free, but there are private institutions, and trust me, Mama _can't _afford those," she said with a smile. She wasn't embarrassed by her family's situation, because nearly every one she knew in her era were in the same position. If they weren't, they wouldn't be going to school with her.

"After we finish high school we can go onto university, which is higher education. It helps us prepare and gain knowledge for what field we want to go into," she finished with a nod.

"Field?" Ryura asked as he tilted his head slightly.

"Mm-hmm. What field of work. History, business, sociology, psychology, music, art, science, medicine... All sorts of things."

Ryura leaned back, a bit shocked. Humans had become so advanced in just a few centuries? It was almost too much for him to wrap his mind around. What of youkai? He had not felt any trace of youki, and very little reiki since he arrived. It was another question he decided to ask her. She looked uncomfortable and ran a shaky hand through her hair before answering.

"I wasn't joking or exaggerating before. Youkai are considered myths. Dragons, magic, youkai, mononoke... None of it exists in this era," Kagome admitted softly.

"How is that possible? If we were a few thousand years into the future I could understand, but it has only been five hundred," Ryura was flabbergasted now.

"I don't really know. Since you guys are considered fables, it's hard to find any correct information on what happened. Maybe you're hiding yourselves?" Kagome suggested. "I'm not for sure, either way. Inuyasha ran around the city once to check, and he couldn't find anything."

Ryura remained silent, not knowing what to make of what she just told him. Daiyoukai hiding themselves? He couldn't see that going over well. Maybe it was human expansion that lowered the youkai numbers down to almost extinction, and they _had _hid themselves. What could have possibly happened in only five centuries to cause it, though?

As he kept pondering over it, Kagome sighed softly. She hadn't meant to upset him, but she wanted to tell him the truth. She quietly went back to her work with a frown on her face. Thinking over the same thing Ryura was, wasn't going to help her study. Kagome inwardly groaned and pushed the thoughts to the back of her mind to focus on her homework and studying. She had exams in two days she couldn't afford to fail.

The next time she checked on Ryura, she found him still staring thoughtfully ahead.

It was well into the morning, almost five, when Kagome decided to stop. She couldn't see anymore. Her vision had become too blurry for her to read properly. Knowing she was harming herself more than helping, Kagome wearily rose to her feet and stumbled to her bed, completely forgetting Ryura was on it. She didn't even bother turning down her comforter, instead simply crawled on top of the blankets covering her bed, hoping she would get at least a few hours of sleep before her brother came busting in the room to talk to Ryura.

With her foggy mind and blurry vision, Kagome completely missed Ryura giving her a shocked look. He shifted to press himself against the wall, gathered his hair to move it out of her way, and watched as she curled in on herself. Kagome was asleep within moments, leaving Ryura in a very awkward position. He didn't want to risk moving out of the bed due to the possibility of Kagome waking up, but he couldn't keep himself pressed against the wall as if he was a picture frame, either.

Minutes ticked by and eventually Ryura gave up. He lowered himself back to the bed and opted to just lay beside Kagome. There was enough light for him to see to read by because of the rising sun filtering through the room's window, and that's just what he would do.

Soon he was back in his previous position with his arm behind his head and reading. The thoughts from before, of how could youkai completely disappear, were beaten to death and he felt if he thought on it anymore, his brain might just melt. Whatever happened, was going to happen. Ryura resigned himself into making sure he was one of the ones who survived, if any had. Whatever the events were that led to the youkai's disappearance, Ryura would prepare himself and his House for. They would survive. He wouldn't allow his House to fall again.

Kagome rolled over and burrowed against his side, causing Ryura to stop what he was doing and look down to the Miko. Her face was pressed against his ribs and she now had an arm thrown over his stomach. She shivered and Ryura instinctively wrapped the arm around her that had been behind his head, pulling her slightly closer to him.

Shocked at his own actions, Ryura stared at his arm as if it betrayed him. The appendage had moved of its own accord, but right now, Ryura really didn't feel like fighting it. He was almost finished with this book, and he wanted to know what happened. Sighing through his nose, Ryura kept his arm around Kagome, effectively keeping her pressed against him, and went back to reading.

As the sun rose higher into the sky, Kagome shifted her position again, but only slightly. She moved her head up and now had it resting on Ryura's shoulder forcing him to move the book to a new angle where he could see past her dark hair, ending up with his head resting directly atop hers. It didn't take long for Ryura to forget about his book and end up falling asleep. His wounds had been healed, yes, but he was still recovering – though he was nearly healed. A wave of exhaustion hit him, forcing him into the slumber he was now in.

Around seven in the morning, Hitomi opened Kagome's door with a smile on her face with the intent of telling the two breakfast was ready if they were hungry. When she saw Ryura sprawled out on the bed with Kagome tucked against him and a forgotten book laying on his chest, Hitomi's smile only widened. She carefully closed the door behind her and almost squealed out of joy as she headed back to the kitchen.

* * *

Fumbling around behind her, Kagome fished around for her clock. When she found it, she looked at the time, blinked, then blinked again. Two in the afternoon? Putting the clock back where she found it, Kagome groaned. She was never going to get caught up at this rate. It was only then Kagome noticed the extra person in bed with her, a person she was half laying on. Frantically she looked up and sighed with relief at seeing Ryura's sleeping face, but then she began to panic. She was too afraid to move. When had she gotten into bed anyway?

She laid there for what felt like hours to her until Ryura finally began to stir. The arm wrapped around her left, leaving Kagome's back feeling cold and she involuntarily shivered. The Dragon Daiyoukai beside her raised his arms over his head and stretched, groaning at the same time. His still sleep riddled eyes opened and slowly began to focus on Kagome's terrified face.

"I'm sorry!" she squeaked out. "I have a bad habit of not paying attention to what I'm doing when I study for too long! I'm sorry!-"

Ryura blinked quickly and leaned back slightly to get a better look at her.

"You don't need to apologize?" he said with a questioning tone. "You were tired, and I was still awake when you came to bed. If anything, I should be the one apologizing."

Kagome's mind promptly blanched. He let her? He actually allowed her to sleep that close to him? Wait, _what_?

"Erhm, no... It's okay," she stuttered out once she found her voice.

The Miko quickly rose from her bed and gathered things to take a bath with. She was too embarrassed to look at Ryura at the moment. When had she become so comfortable around him that she would sleep next to him? She moved in a daze to the bathroom and quietly closed the door behind her.

Ryura watched her go with a small frown on his face, wondering if he had upset her. He tuned into her aura, releasing his senses despite how much the noises and smells around him hurt, then breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't upset, but embarrassed, judging by the feeling of aura he became accustomed to while training her not to be so nervous while in battle. He could live with that.

As he dialed back his senses yet again he decided to wait for her to return. He still had a book to finish, and fully intended on doing just that before Kagome returned. But Ryura wouldn't get the chance. Souta came bounding into the room as soon as he heard the shower turn on, telling him Kagome was awake.

"Ryura!" the boy yelled.

Ryura chuckled at the excitement that literally radiated from Souta. With a flick down to the number of the page he was on, he closed it and set it on the small table beside the bed.

"Good morning, Souta," Ryura said with a grin in the boy's direction.

"Morning? It's afternoon!"

Ryura looked out the window, "Afternoon? I suppose it is."

He listened to Souta excited chatter about something called video games and how Dragons were included in a lot of the ones he played. Then he began firing off questions about Dragons, wondering what they really looked like.

"What do _you_ think they look like?" Ryura asked.

"Oh! I'll show you!" Souta said before he sped from the room.

When he returned he was holding a few books and video game cases. Souta spread them out on Kagome's bed, not daring to go near her desk since it looked like she had been studying. He didn't want to face _that _wrath, not again. As the books and cases were laid out, Ryura's eyebrows rose higher and higher in his surprise.

"That is...disturbingly correct, Souta. I thought Dragons were myths in this era?" Ryura asked as he reached for one book and carefully looked at the cover.

The book showed an almost platinum dragon who held much the same appearance as Ryura did in his true form. There were differences, of course, but they were very minor. The back half of the Dragon was almost transparent, showing off its muscles and ligaments. The words on the book were foreign to him, so Ryura didn't even bother trying to read it.

As he listened to Souta speak on his theory, that somehow true information managed to survive the times, Kagome entered the room and gave Souta a withering glare.

"Souta..." Kagome growled.

The boy squeaked and collected his things, all but the book Ryura was still holding, and scooted from the room without turning his back on Kagome. With him now gone, Kagome sighed and tossed her hair in the towel she was holding.

"I'm sorry about him. He gets a little too excited for his own good sometimes," she apologized as she looked to Ryura.

"It's alright," Ryura said with a smile. "However, could you tell me what this book says? I don't know this language."

Kagome, curious now, carefully took the book from Ryura and looked over it's cover.

"_A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent_," she glanced up at Ryura. "It's a work of fiction, wrote by Marie Brennan. It's in English."

"Ah, the language of the British," he murmured.

Shocked, Kagome asked, "You know of the British?"

"I do. I traveled quite a bit before I was trapped on Horai Island."

Kagome looked back at the book and pondered for a moment. "If you want, I can read it to you."

"Perhaps after I finish this book," Ryura said with a grin, holding up the book he had been reading.

"Ryura?"

"Hm?" he hummed.

"Do you want to take a bath, too?" Kagome asked nervously.

And that was how Kagome found herself in the bathroom, showing Ryura how indoor plumping worked. She fiddled with the water until he voiced it was the right temperature. Just as she was about to high tail it out of the room, Ryura stopped her.

"Wash my hair for me?" he asked with a grin.

"But..." Kagome trailed off and stared at his pants.

"I'll leave them on," he said quickly when he realized what she was looking at.

It never occurred to him until then that this was no hot springs, like the last time. The bath was a decent sized, yes, but no way would it cover what he would need covered.

Kagome gave him a nod and an exasperated smile, moving past him. She lowered herself to her knees and swished her hand gently through the water as the bathtub filled up. Behind her she could hear Ryura removing his shirt and she stole a glance at him.

"It might be easier if you sat down outside the bath, that way your pants won't get soaked," she suggested.

Ryura nodded and did just that. He lowered himself to sit beside Kagome with his back to the bath, then Kagome directed him to lay back until the back of his neck was resting just on the edge. She gathered his hair then, placing it into the water. With her hands cupped she gathered water and wet the rest of his hair. The Dragon Daiyoukai's eyes were lidded as Kagome washed his long hair, his face one of utter contentment. When Kagome began to hum softly, Ryura found it hard to not drift off to sleep, even if he hadn't been awake for very long. He felt her rinse the soap from his hair then begin to wring it out, laying it section by section on the outside of the bath, and when she was finished, she tapped his forehead and stood.

"All done! I'll let you finish up," she smiled as she spoke.

Ryura watched her go with a daze. He was forced to stay sitting against the bath until he collected his bearings, and only then did he finish undressing and set into the water. His mind began to churn and reel with different thoughts, most of them centered around Kagome.

A knock on the door alerted him to someone's presence, and he faintly heard Souta's muffled voice.

"Hey, Ryura? Can I come in?" he asked.

"Yes," Ryura drawled out, still half dazed from before.

The door creaked open and Souta quickly slipped inside. Over one arm he held a full set of clothing - blue jeans darker than the ones Kagome had been wearing and a black t-shirt - which he set off to the side on a dry shelf. When he was finished with that, Souta looked to Ryura and jerked back. The guy looked like he was drunk! He was lazing in the bath with his arms resting on the edges of the bath. One foot hung off the edge and the other was half way propped up against the wall, showing he was far too long to fully stretch out comfortably. His cheeks were red and his eyes were glazed, staring ahead at nothing.

"Uh, you okay?" Souta asked.

Ryura's eyes slid over to Souta but his head didn't turn, and Souta felt like the red gaze of the Dragon was piercing his very soul, seeing who he truly was deep down. He could see one of Ryura's fangs peeking out from his mouth, catching on his bottom lip. His fingers were slowly tapping along the bath, claws ticking away at the porcelain in a steady rhythm. Souta didn't truly realize how dangerous Ryura was until that moment.

"I am fine," Ryura finally said after a long stretch of silence.

Souta stood extremely still, too afraid to move. Ryura reminded him of a predator who was hunting, patiently waiting for its prey to present itself in a vulnerable manner that would lead to its death. When Souta did find it within himself to move, he slowly took steps back, not daring to show Ryura his back.

"Souta?" Ryura asked, causing Souta to still in his movements.

"Yeah?" the boy squeaked out, freezing in his place.

"Something wrong?"

Souta shook his head quickly in a negative manner and Ryura gave him a suspicious look, obviously not believing him. Ryura then sighed and closed his eyes as his head leaned back to rest against the wall behind him. Raising his left hand, Ryura motioned for Souta to come closer to him. He heard Souta slowly begin to walk towards him, and not once did Ryura open his eyes. As Souta came to a halt about half a foot away from the bath, Ryura began to speak.

"You are afraid," he stated. "Why?"

Souta gulped. "You... um... you look like you could kill something right now," he said in a small voice.

Ryura's eyes snapped open, head raising and he looked up to Souta with a confused expression. Had he truly? He wasn't angry, far from it. He was comfortable to the point he felt lazy and didn't think he'd be getting out of the water until it was extremely cold, which Kagome warned could happen.

"I am not angry, Souta," Ryura murmured. "I am... content. You should have no reason to fear me. I will never harm you or your family."

Souta smiled a bit sheepishly as relief swelled through him. What was he thinking? Souta should have known better – of course he wasn't going to hurt anyone, else Kagome wouldn't have allowed him to stay as long as he had. Ryura had just looked so... _primal_ that it scared him for a bit.

"I'm sorry. I'm not... I'm not used to having another guy around that's not older than dirt," he admitted. "I was really young when my dad died. I've only seen pictures of him."

Ryura didn't say anything. He instead rose from the water and grabbed the towel Kagome had left for him, wrapping the white material around his waist. Once he was out of the bath he unplugged it to allowed the water to drain, then sat on the bath's edge with his hands resting over his knees. He looked Souta in the eyes, his new position allowing him to be on equal level with the young boy.

"I was young when my own father died, as well," Ryura said, causing Souta's eyes to widen. "However I was not as young as you were."

"Really?" Souta asked.

Ryura nodded. "While you may not know your father trust me when I say this; he knows you. He watches over you to this day – you and your family. He has kept Kagome safe from dangers in the past before."

"...how can you be so sure?" Souta asked warily.

"Because I have met him," Ryura said with a sad smile. "I was dead for quite some time, Souta."

The boy's mouth hung open. "What!?"

"Inuyasha and Kagome were the ones who killed me," Ryura admitted. Souta looked too shocked to ask why, so Ryura kept speaking. "I was not always as I am now, Souta. I was the General of a group called the Four War Gods. I've killed a lot of innocent people. I was greedy, and daresay insane. Inuyasha and your sister saved me by sending me to my death.

"I was a void for six centuries, to me – time travels differently when you are dead. Your father came to me one day, in a different form that I would know, and made a deal with me. You see, he was Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru's father in a past life. He was also my god-father. His name was Touga. Later, after I returned to the living, your father called me to him, and explained to me exactly who he was, and what he has done. He watches over you, all of you, even now. He's probably listening in on our conversation," Ryura finished with a lopsided grin.

Souta looked down to the floor in a thoughtful manner. He didn't know whether to believe Ryura or not, but it did make sense. If anything Souta knew he could ask Kagome later.

"One time, when I was little," Souta began, "I ran out into the street while at a friend's house, and a car was coming. I couldn't move I was so afraid, but I felt something push me out of the way. And don't tell Kagome or mom this, they'll freak out!"

"My lips are sealed," Ryura promised with a chuckle. "What you felt was possibly Hikaru, your father."

Souta looked up and smiled brightly at Ryura. "Yeah, you're probably right."

Ryura stood to his feet and ruffled Souta's hair. "The world works in mysterious ways, Souta. Believe in things that are unbelievable, and never stop having faith. I'm living proof that the myths of your era are not actual myths, and that the Kami-sama do exist. Things aren't always the way they seem."

Souta, still smiling, nodded. They didn't speak much after that, both fine with letting the conversation end as it had. Souta showed Ryura how to wear the clothing his mother had pulled out for Ryura, and both were pleased when they saw the clothing fit Ryura a little too well. Apparently Souta and Kagome's father had been the exact same size as Ryura, which was convenient. The only problem was the shirt was a little too tight, but that Ryura could deal with while his own clothing was being cleaned.

* * *

The day passed without too many incidents, and the following morning went well except for when Hojo showed up to ask Hitomi if Kagome was going to school in the morning. He wanted to come in and see her, since Hitomi had told him that yes, Kagome was indeed going to school. If she was well enough to go to school, she was well enough to visit with him for a little bit.

Kagome had been listening from the stairs and almost lost her mind when she heard her mother reluctantly agree to Hojo's visit. Ryura was upstairs! There was a Daiyoukai in their house and her mother just let a human in – a human who had no idea what youkai were!

She barged up the stairs and into her room, pressing herself up against her door with her chest heaving due to her nervousness.

"Ryura!" Kagome said.

Ryura was quickly off the bed, his book flying from his hands, and standing in front of her, thinking something was wrong. He checked her over for injuries, and when he found none, he looked at her more carefully.

"What is it?" he said with urgency.

"Hojo's here!" Kagome yanked her door open as she spoke and began pushing Ryura out of it. "Go hide in Souta's room – don't ask questions right now, Souta can explain!"

Ryura stood within Souta's room, bewildered. Souta sat in front of the television in his room with wide eyes looking to Ryura. He was playing a video game and had a stick of pockey hanging out from the left corner of his mouth.

"Hojo?" Ryura asked.

Souta yelped out of surprise, "Crap!"

Ryura blinked quickly. "What?" he asked, not understanding how this Hojo person could send everyone into a frenzy.

"He's a friend of Kagome's who's literally obsessed with her. The guy's a creep," Souta grumbled as he turned his eyes back to his video game, his mood soured by having to talk about Hojo. "He's always asking about her, following her around when she's home and walking around in the city. He always asks her how she's doing and if she needs anything, which would be fine if he wasn't so persistent about it."

Ryura chest rumbled with a growl and he kept himself against Souta's door, listening to what was going on outside. He willed his markings to disappear, following that up by forcing the color of his hair and eyes to change, his claws and fangs to shrink, and his pointed ears to turn into human-like shells. Souta was watching now, shock all over his face.

"H-how!?" he exclaimed while pointing at Ryura.

"Daiyoukai can control what they look like to a point, if they're skilled enough," he said while flicking his eyes to look at Souta. "I'm making myself look human."

"Obviously, but why?" Souta asked as he pushed himself from the floor and came to stand beside Ryura with his face pressed against the door. Was something happening outside?

"Kagome is alone with Hojo, in her room. Why do you think?"

"...Oooohhhhh," the boy said when he caught Ryura's meaning.

Souta really couldn't hear anything, but then again he wasn't youkai like Ryura was. He looked quickly to the Lord standing beside him and watched as Ryura's face fell into one of utter stoicism. Souta wasn't exactly for sure what that look meant, but he did have a feeling it didn't mean anything good for Hojo.

* * *

Sighing inwardly, Kagome did her best to keep herself from looking annoyed. Hojo was sitting on the chair of her desk, going on and on about school and how she needs to take better care of herself. Really, she got the guy wanted to be a doctor, but this was a little much.

"You shouldn't keep the window open, Kagome!" Hojo said as he leaned over and closed aforementioned window with a soft click. "It's not summer anymore!"

He turned around then and started looking over her homework and study notes. When he clicked his tongue in a disappointed manner, Kagome's eyebrow twitched against her will.

"You're going to take the exams with this?" Hojo sighed softly, looking like he'd just been fed something sour.

He began pulling notebooks out of his bag and laying them on Kagome's desk, mumbling to himself to make sure they were the right ones.

"Hojo, my things are fine!" Kagome whined. "It's hard to understand your notes!"

"That's because you're not trying hard enough!" Hojo scolded.

Kagome hung her head and sighed. She didn't mind Hojo, not really. He was a good friend who was just worried about her. That didn't mean she could help the annoyed feeling she got whenever he would go on one of his rants.

"What's this?" he suddenly said with a tone of wonder.

Kagome looked up and paled. He was holding up one of Ryura's black boots that she forgot to toss in her closet, and he was eying it with suspicion. He turned it this way and that, humming thoughtfully all the while. It was obviously way too big to be one of Kagome's _or _Souta's boots. Hojo looked to the window the back to the boot, and ever so slowly set the boot down and turned to face Kagome with a frown on his face.

"Instead of studying you were messing around with a guy?" he asked. He just _looked _disappointed. "I didn't expect that from you, Kagome."

"Excuse me?" Kagome said hotly.

"I shouldn't need to repeat myself, you know. I was wondering why your grades were slipping even further than they had since you got sick, and I think I know the reason now," Hojo replied evenly.

Kagome grit her teeth. "And that reason would be?"

"You have a boyfriend, and instead of studying or doing your homework, you're messing around with him. Your grades are horrible, Kagome. Your family is going to be so sad..." he trailed off with a sad frown.

"I don't really think this is any of your business, Hojo." Kagome said as she stood up and placed her hands on her hips.

Hojo snapped his eyes up and glared at her. "I think it is! I promised your grandfather I would look after you!"

"I don't _need _someone to look after me, thank you very much!" Kagome said a bit louder than she intended. "My grandpa is very aware of what's going on, and if anything I have his permission!"

Hojo stood up as well and came closer to her. "What? And you think that makes it all okay? Stop being delusional!"

"Delusional!?" Kagome screeched.

"Yes, delusional! You're fifteen years old! Do you think this guy you're obsessed with is any good for you? Huh, do you!?" Hojo yelled back. "He's not! If he truly cared for you, he wouldn't let you ruin your life like this!"

Just to make his point, Hojo leaned back and grabbed one of Kagome's notebooks that held her scribbles of notes and all but flung it at her. Kagome awkwardly caught it, hissing when one of the pages sliced her finger. She _hated _paper cuts! Blood seeped from the cut and Kagome angrily shoved it in her mouth. This whole situation was _stupid. _

Kagome knew how this was coming off. Hojo wasn't aware she was constantly juggling two lives and trying to save the world with her friends. He didn't know what she had seen, what she had been through, or what she could do. He didn't know that she had very, very good friends who supported her, and he definitely didn't know she was part of a noble House whose Lord took very good care of her, all things considering.

Hojo's rant continued as Kagome sucked on her still bleeding finger. The cut was deeper than she originally thought it was.

"And another thing, are you really sick at all or are you just faking it so you can be with _him _all the time!? If you were really sick you wouldn't look as good as you do!"

Kagome popped her finger out of her mouth and frowned. "It's none of your business! If you don't have anything nice to say, just leave!"

"I'm trying to help you, Kagome! Can't you see that!?" Hojo said as he moved to place his hands on her shoulders.

Kagome instinctively flinched away from him, remembering the last time that someone had laid their hands on her in such a way. Ryura ended up almost dying. Not that Hojo carried the power to kill Ryura, far from it, but she couldn't help herself from worrying.

"Don't touch me!" she screamed.

He didn't listen to her, reaching for her again with both hands.

"I believe she said not to touch her."

Hojo and Kagome both looked to the door of the room, heads turning slowly and eyes widening dramatically. Ryura stood leaning against the door frame with his arms folded over his chest. His sudden appearance surprised Hojo, but it was how he looked that surprised Kagome. His long hair was jet black, eyes a deep burgundy color, and he was overall missing any traits that screamed, "Hey everyone, I'm a youkai!"

And considering he was dressed in her father's old clothes, he looked anything but youkai.

Hojo involuntarily stepped away from Kagome and held his hands up level with his chest, palms facing outwards. When he was far enough away, Ryura stepped further into the room and went straight to Kagome. His eyes landed on her still bleeding finger and he grumbled. Taking her hand in his, he stuck her bleeding finger in his mouth. While normally a Dragon's saliva was corrosive, it could also seal wounds. Ryura kept her finger in his mouth until he felt the blood stop flowing from the small wound, and then lowered her hand from his face. He grinned at her blushing face.

"Thought you said you couldn't be nervous anymore?" he asked playfully.

"T-that is...!" Kagome stuttered.

"Who are you?" Hojo asked, making himself aware to the two again.

Ryura looked over his shoulder and frowned at the male.

"I am Ryura," he said.

"And...?" Hojo drawled out.

"He's a very close friend of mine and my family," Kagome said with a nod once her nerves settled down.

"He knew my father," she explained further. Well, he knew her father's spirit, but Kagome kept that to herself.

"Your boyfriend?" Hojo asked with a tilt of his head. Silently he was wondering how old the guy was, if he knew Kagome's father before the man had passed away.

"Yes," Ryura answered.

Souta had explained to him before he left what a boyfriend was when Ryura had asked while listening in to Hojo and Kagome's conversation. Souta described it as someone, in the modern era, you were dating, or courting. A person you spent quite a lot of your time with and cared for more than you would a simple friend.

Ryura had decided that his and Kagome's relationship wasn't too far off from that. While they weren't courting, they did spend an awful lot of time around each other, and Ryura cared more for her than he would another person, because she was a member of his House. As a youkai, anyone within a House was practically family. The positions were reserved for those who were close to the Lord's family, and in the end, became extended family themselves.

Kagome kept her mouth shut, shocked beyond belief and wondering if Ryura knew what he was really saying. She just watched as Hojo's mouth thinned into a tight line and he nodded firmly, turning to gather his things, including his notebooks.

"Do what you want, Kagome," Hojo bit out. "I'm not helping you anymore. If you fail and dishonor your family, that's on you now."

Neither Kagome nor Ryura said anything as he left, and when he was gone and they saw him stalking his way to the long staircase that led to the Shrine, Kagome sighed.

"It's going to be interesting at school tomorrow," she said.

Ryura's head tilted curiously, "Why's that?"

"He's friends with my friends, and they have a habit of talking a bit too loudly about my love life and humans in this era are too curious for their own good, so people hear things. Hojo thinks you're my boyfriend, so..." Kagome said with a shrug.

Ryura was silent and Kagome ended up asking, "Do you know what a boyfriend is?"

"Souta explained it to me. Aside from the courting aspect, our relationship is not far from what Souta described, when it comes down to it," Ryura admitted.

Kagome paused to think about it, and eventually realized he was right. He pretty much did act like he was her boyfriend. Odd thing was, Kagome found she didn't really mind the thought of him actually acting in such a way. He wasn't possessive as Inuyasha had been – not that she had seen anyway. He was kind, caring, and protected both physically and mentally.

She blushed and looked down to the carpet. What was she _thinking? _

Ryura crouched down and tilted his head up to look at her face. His right hand raised to rest gently on her cheek and he stroked it with a thumb.

"I apologize for any problems this may cause you when you go to school," he said softly.

Kagome smiled down at him and lightly shook her head, then leaned into his touch. "It's alright. I can deal with it. I'll just confirm what they're thinking. I'll say we're dating, and answer what questions they have about you the best I can. If anything I can say you're a very private person and you don't like having much known about you."

"Hn, that is possibly the best route to take. It is not as if you can tell them who I truly am, ne?" he asked with a small grin.

"Oh I can see that going wonderfully. Hey, guys, he's not actually my boyfriend, but my Lord. He's a Daiyoukai who traveled five hundred years into the future because I was too tired to walk by myself. I'd be tossed into the nearest insane asylum," Kagome said sarcastically, making Ryura laugh.

The Dragon straightened himself and put his hands on Kagome's shoulders, then leaned over to kiss the crown of her head.

"Now you will study. I will keep Souta busy," Ryura said after he pulled away. "Show the human how wrong he is."

Kagome gave an almost feral grin, happy with the idea. She only had one more day.

Well, almost a day, she thought after taking a glance at her clock.

* * *

A.N.: Again, _A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent_ by Marie Brennan is a real book. Also! I'm going to start putting the name of the song(s) I listened to while writing the chapters. Without them, and those who have reviewed so far, I wouldn't have had the inspiration to write what I have so far. Consider them prompts. Sometimes they might have something to do with that particular chapter, and sometimes they might not. :3

Prompt: A Rose for Epona - Eluveitie


	22. Chapter 22: Volts

Chapter 22:  
Volts

"I... do... not... do... lightning."  
― Ridley Pearson, _Disney at Dawn _

Prompt: My Freedom – Two Steps from Hell 

* * *

Kagome tapped her pencil against her desk as she listened to the teacher explain how the exam was going to go, even if everyone had heard the same speech almost literally a hundred times by now. These were mid-term exams which would affect their grades, for better or worse, and the teacher dared them to cheat. If students were doing poorly until now this was a good way to make their grades skyrocket, or drop even further.

Thankfully, Kagome was prepared. She had studied well into the night with a fury in her heart. She was going to fail and dishonor her family, huh? Yeah, right! Kagome didn't think so.

"Screw you, Hojo!" she muttered vehemently.

She was so fired up now she didn't feel the least bit tired from only having two hours of sleep. Though, that probably had something to do with Ryura cloaking her in his youki to give her energy before she left, which Kagome didn't even know was possible.

Ryura had explained it as since he was a Dragon Daiyoukai who could control electricity. He literally shocked Kagome's body into functioning properly, somehow. Kagome was never any good at biology, so she wasn't going to question it. Look at Tsuyoshi! He made her hair grow at least nine inches in only the span of a few minutes while making it glossy and soft at the same time. Nope, Kagome wasn't even going to ask.

The teacher happily chirped to begin and wished them all good luck.

On the roof of her school Ryura sat hidden away unknowingly to Kagome, his human disguise in place should someone spot him. In his hands rested yet another new book, which he was quickly reading. After Kagome had left he followed her, not wanting to risk her being too far away considering she had his own youki surrounding her. It would be easier on both if he remained close. And, well, he wanted to see how she would handle herself should her friends start interrogating her. Or if Hojo started something.

The sharp sound of a bell ringing brought Ryura's attention away from his book and he looked up at the sky. The sun was hanging overhead, showing it was mid-day. Kagome had told him since today was an exam day, that she wouldn't have to go as long as she normally would, and she'd be finished around noon.

Ryura marked his place with a bookmark Kagome gave him and stood. He centered his senses on Kagome's aura and his youki wrapping around her and followed it to a different part of the building he was standing on. When she began to move, so did he. He was walking directly over her now. She paused and he followed suit until she began to walk again.

She was outside now and Ryura could easily see her standing with a group of other young women dressed as she was. Ryura knelt and decided to watch and listen in to their conversation. He had slowly started to become used to all the noises and scents in this era, so he wasn't required to keep his senses so hampered.

"Was it the two-timer!?" one girl asked loudly.

"No, that's Inuyasha," Kagome responded.

Another girl spoke after. "Who was he then? He really pissed Hojo off!"

Kagome sighed. "His name is Ryura."

"Ryura... Ryura what?" a third girl asked. "What's his family name?"

Well, that wasn't expected. His family's name? Ryura paid close attention to Kagome, waiting for her to respond just as much as the others were. Ryura didn't exactly have a family name, and if he had, Kagome wouldn't have known it. So, how was she going to answer this?

"Erhm..." Kagome coughed and fumbled around with Ryura's name until she came up with a surname that fit him. "His name is Ryura Kumori?"

The girls stilled and just _stared _at Kagome.

"What?" she squeaked, nervous beyond belief now.

"You can't be serious!" one girl exploded, making people not involved walking around her give her odd looks and back away.

"What!?" Kagome asked again, desperate to know what was so wrong with that name.

"You mean _this _Ryura Kumori?" the same girl asked as she shoved a book she had held at Kagome. She flipped through a few pages and pointed at a picture.

The book wasn't really a book at all, but a magazine.

Ryura watched while resting his chin in his hand as Kagome read over whatever it was. With his youki tied so closely to her he could easily feel her nervousness turn to panic, and he had to wonder just what it was she was reading.

"The... architect?" Kagome asked.

"Yes!"

Leave it to Eri to find someone who had the same name Kagome had given Ryura, and who looked a lot like the Dragon in his human guise. This guy's eyes were a glittering green, his hair shorter and that was the only difference. Dear Kami, don't tell her he was actually _here. _This just got a lot more awkward for everyone. Why was it architectural engineering that Eri wanted to study when she went to college? _Why!?_

"I uh, I have to go!" Kagome said.

She ran off without returning the magazine to Eri, and the girls couldn't hope to catch up with her, despite how fast they were running. Kagome had been honing herself over her time in the Feudal Era. Her friends didn't stand a chance.

"Good grief, how can a sick girl run that fast!?" one girl exclaimed as she panted for air.

Ryura followed above her, keeping himself hidden by leaping from tree to tree, or moving too quickly for the human eye to see. When Kagome was far enough away he dropped down to run beside her. The Miko yelled out in surprise and tripped, losing her footing. Ryura caught her by the arm and waited for her to steady herself.

"What is it?" he asked as Kagome worked to catch her breath.

She shoved the magazine at him and pointed at his eyes, "Make... your eyes... green..."

He gave her a confused look but did as she "asked" anyway. His eyes closed and for a moment they stayed closed, only to open up, revealing brightly shining green irises. Kagome almost fainted.

"It _is _you!" Kagome exclaimed.

If Ryura hadn't heard the conversation between Kagome and her friends earlier, he would have been worried she was in a state of delusional fever. As he held on to her, keeping her from just falling over, Ryura looked down at the magazine and blanched. There, staring back at him, was a life-like painting, or picture if he had but known the word, of himself with incredibly short hair. He scanned over the words on the page, and together both he and Kagome came to the same conclusion. Ryura had survived. He was alive in her era.

Kagome's eyes rolled back in her head as she fainted.

* * *

Hitomi carefully looked over the magazine, then at Ryura. Back and forth she went. There was no way this could _not _be him. When Ryura had brought Kagome's unconscious form home, Hitomi was worried, but now that she saw what made her daughter faint, Hitomi was feeling a bit light headed herself.

"I don't know what to make of it," Ryura said. "I'm alive, in this era. I survived and I might have passed the Kami's test, though for all I know I'm still going through it. I wasn't given a deadline, after all."

Hitomi held the magazine a bit tighter. Ryura had to explain after Kagome was tucked away in her bed everything he had done in his past, and what lead to where he was now. Thankfully Hitomi was much like her daughter and believed in giving people second chances. If Kagome trusted him, Hitomi would, too.

"I think you should take it as it comes," Hitomi said gently.

"But why wouldn't I come see Kagome after all she's done for me?" he asked.

"Well, she only came to know you as you are now recently, right?" Hitomi said and when Ryura nodded she continued, "Then the you in _this _era possibly didn't want to frighten her."

Ryura folded his arms. What Hitomi said did make sense. As they both fell silent, Ryura began to ponder. Youkai had indeed taken to hiding themselves, according to what he had just discovered. _He _was that man, and not a reincarnation. Why in the world would his reincarnation use his given name, and the name Kagome had given him for a surname? Now that wouldn't have made any sense. It _had _to be him.

Behind them the door to the house opened and Ryura rose to his feet. Everyone was at home, doing various things. Who would come into the house without announcing themselves first? He asked Hitomi to stay where she was, and with that thought in mind, he headed from the kitchen into the living room, only to see Inuyasha standing at the door and cleaning his feet off.

The hanyou looked up and blinked twice in rapid succession at Ryura's appearance. He hadn't let down his human guise yet.

"The fuck?" Inuyasha asked as he pointed to Ryura's hair.

Ryura sneaked a glance at the braid his hair was in resting over his shoulder, and realized what Inuyasha had pointed at. He allowed the disguise to drop, and Inuyasha grumbled.

"Oi, where's Kagome?" he finally asked.

"Resting. She fainted after we found out that I am alive in this era," Ryura said with a half-grin.

Inuyasha twitched. "What?"

"Hello Inuyasha!" Hitomi said as she came from the kitchen. She had heard the hanyou's voice and came to greet him.

"Oh, hey," Inuyasha remarked lightly, forgetting about what Ryura said for the moment. "I came back to get the two slackers."

"What?" Ryura growled.

"You heard me! Everything's going all wonky in the past. We need Kagome," Inuyasha said with an arrogant nod.

Probably Naraku again, Ryura bitterly thought.

"Very well. I will wake her and we will prepare," Ryura said then. He didn't want for Inuyasha's response. He simply climbed the staircase and entered her room, heading for her.

Ryura sat on the edge of her bed and gently took hold of her shoulder, shaking her slightly to wake her. Her eyes fluttered open and he smiled.

"Inuyasha has come to fetch us. Naraku is possibly moving again," Ryura said softly as he allowed her to wake up a bit more.

Kagome groggily got out of bed then. Luckily for her Ryura looked like he was supposed to, so she didn't immediately faint upon seeing him again. That issue was going to have to wait until later. Much later. She would deal with it after all this Naraku stuff was over.

The two went about preparing themselves with Ryura leaving to give Kagome privacy as she dressed in her Miko attire. He borrowed the bathroom to change into his own clothing. Downstairs, Hitomi was preparing Kagome's black bag with food and medical supplies, with Inuyasha almost drooling when he saw the Ramen. He hadn't had it in _days_.

Ryura strapped Raijinga and Fujinga to his back, not noticing until now how much he missed the weight of his swords against him. He finished dressing by tying the white sash around his waist, and moved from Souta's room. By the sounds of it, Kagome was already downstairs and talking to Inuyasha and Hitomi. He descended the stairs quickly and came to a stop at the base of the staircase, his breath leaving him when he saw Kagome. He forgot how well the colors of his House suited her.

"Ready?" Kagome asked when she spotted him.

"Damn well better be, we ain't go all day," Inuyasha grumbled as he folded his arms behind his head.

Kagome slapped him upside the head, "Don't curse around my mother, Inuyasha!"

"Ow!" Inuyasha yelped. "Fine, fine! Whatever! Let's just go!"

He spun around and stalked outside of the home with the other three plus Souta who had just rushed down the stairs following after him.

"Will you come back to visit?" Souta asked when he caught up with Ryura.

The Dragon Daiyoukai smiled and rested his large hand on Souta's head as they walked. "I will try, Souta."

"All right!" Souta cheered.

Inuyasha grumbled again, jealous. _He _was supposed to Souta's hero, for Kami's sake! Kagome rolled her eyes and Hitomi giggled.

"Higurashi!"

The group came to a slow, horrified halt and turned around. Hojo was standing behind them, eyes wide. He was staring at Inuyasha and Ryura.

"Fuck!" Inuyasha exclaimed.

He moved to go for Hojo, but Ryura stopped him by grabbing his bicep. Inuyasha was about to snap and ask what his problem was, until he felt Ryura's youki spike. Above them the clouds churned and the sky began to darken. Inuyasha felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end and he warily watched both the clouds and Ryura's now glowing red eyes.

Thunder rumbled and lightning danced through the air. Hojo looked like he was about to pass out, or piss himself, which ever came first. Souta was staring excitedly at Ryura, happy beyond belief he was going to get to see Ryura do _something _supernatural. Kagome and Hitomi only looked on with worry.

The women and Souta yelled out with surprise as a lightning bolt came rushing from the ground to streak high into the air. More and more sprang forward, each one coming closer and closer to Hojo. A particular bolt hit close to the young man and he was sent flying back a few feet.

"He is uninjured," Ryura said before everyone could rush for him. "I have simply knocked him out. This way his memory will be fuzzy and no one will believe someone who came a bit too close to lightning."

The lightning storm died down but the clouds and thunder remained. The realization on the human's faces showed that what Ryura had said held wisdom in it. After all, being nearly struck by lightning was a very traumatic experience, messing with brain waves and making the person sometimes delusional, or it could.

"That... that was _awesome_!" Souta exclaimed. "Do it again!"

"No! We gotta get going!" Inuyasha snapped. He was twitching angrily.

He marched over to the well house and yanked the door open, disappearing inside. A flash of blue showed he already had crossed over to the past.

"I'll take care of Hojo," Hitomi said with a quiet sigh. That was an experience and a half.

"I'll help!" Souta remarked a bit too happily.

Kagome giggled, holding up a hand to her mouth. She didn't particularly know what was funny about the incident, but she went along with it anyway. Ryura called out to her then and she turned to see him holding a hand out for her to take.

"I was carrying you when we first arrived," he said at her confused look. "I wouldn't want to chance it not working this time. Do you?"

Kagome half smiled and placed her hand in his, watching as the long, strong appendages that were his fingers tipped with claws curled around her own. He gave her a small tug, diverting her attention from his hand to his face. He gave her a lopsided grin and tugged on her again, having her follow him into the darkness of the well house. They trotted down the stairs, Kagome using Ryura as a guide in the dark due to the still darkened sky outside making it twice as hard to see inside the building. Ryura helped her stand up on the lip of the well, and together with their hands still joined together, they jumped.

As the magic of the Bone-Eater's Well engulfed them and all light disappeared save for the firefly-like lights hovering about them, Kagome felt Ryura's grip on her hand tighten slightly. The low light made it hard for her to see his face properly with the way his head was turned.

"Ryura, is something wrong?" she asked softly.

Kagome saw his red eyes flick to her for a split second. "It reminds me of the void."

The Miko's face softened and she squeezed his hand gently. Now she understood.

"I'm here," she said with a cheerful tone, "So don't worry!"

Ryura let out a laugh and finally looked at her, giving her a soft grin that lit up his face. "You're a weird woman."

"Hey!" Kagome said with a small frown.

Ryura laughed again and pulled her towards him until she was resting against his side. He let go of her hand only to wrap his arm around her shoulder, pushing her even closer to his body. They stayed in that position until their feet hit ground in the past, and Ryura carried them out of the well.

Inuyasha had been waiting for them, standing just off to the side in the shade with his hands stuffed into his sleeves. He watched as Ryura landed softly on the ground, bending the long grass beneath him, followed by Kagome. The Miko wore a large smile on her face, and she didn't seem bothered by how close she was to Ryura. Inuyasha didn't know whether to be shocked or not. He'd never seen her look so comfortable that close to someone of the opposite gender, not even himself.

In the end, Inuyasha smiled ruefully and sighed through his nose, eyes softening at the same time to look like molten pools of gold. What could he say? He loved Kagome. She was his best friend. If she was happy, that's all he cared for now. A gentle wind wrapped around him, sending his hair billowing in random directions, and he caught a scent on that wind he had only smelt once before.

"Father..." he whispered into the air.

Ryura's ears perked at hearing Inuyasha's whisper. The wind had moved to wrap around him short after, and Ryura's eyes closed, inhaling the scent he smelled.

"So it is," he said in a voice only loud enough for Inuyasha to hear.

With his eyes closed, Ryura missed Inuyasha's surprised glance in his direction. When his eyes opened, however, he looked directly at Inuyasha and gave him a kind smile, silently furthering Inuyasha's thought that he smelt his father.

Inuyasha could only grin in return.

* * *

Sesshoumaru tilted his head and closed his eyes. He could smell his brother's pack not too far away heading in his direction. His eyes opened once more and he looked in the direction Inuyasha would be coming from. It was time to end this, once and for all. If Inuyasha passed this test, Sesshoumaru would drop the issue of Tessaiga altogether.

As if she hadn't just recently died and returned to life for the second time, Rin hummed and sang happily behind him, and Jaken scolded her for various things, which only made the girl laugh at him like he was trying to be funny on purpose. Neither of them were aware of what Sesshoumaru was about to do.

Sesshoumaru spotted the red fire-rat of Inuyasha's haori, and without so much as a "How do you do" the Inu Daiyoukai charged forward, drawing Tenseiga as he ran.

"Whoa! What the fuck!?" Inuyasha yelled out in surprise, having drawn Tessaiga just in time to meet the incoming attack from Sesshoumaru.

"Fight me, Inuyasha!" Sesshoumaru growled out while turning Tenseiga slightly and running the blade up the length of Tessaiga.

He then jumped back and watched with a morbid humor in his eyes as Tenseiga pulsed and began to grow into the replica of Tessaiga. Sesshoumaru hated it. He absolutely hated that he had to steal the power and mimic it to actually hold the sword in his hand without it burning the living hells out of him.

Inuyasha, wondering what was going on, could only stare in silent shock at the copy of his own sword. To his side, Kagome began to yell at Sesshoumaru.

"What the heck, Sesshoumaru!? Stop it now!"

Sesshoumaru only spared her a glance, and what she saw in his eyes was enough to make what she wanted to say next die on her lips. It was a look that said this fight needed to happen, and she shouldn't interfere like she had in the past. Kagome swallowed the lump in her throat while reaching out and grabbing the tail of the silk-like sash that Ryura wore. She used it as an anchor to keep herself calm as she watched the battle.

Inuyasha pulled Tessaiga above his head and brought it down in his customary wide arch. "Wind Scar!"

Nothing happened.

Panic gripping at his heart, Inuyasha tried it again, only to result in the same as before. No energy was released. It was simply... a blade now. A very large, fang shaped blade.

Sesshoumaru gave a single look to Tenseiga before he rose the sword high above his head and brought it down with a powerful thrust while shouting, "Wind Scar!"

Inuyasha managed to jump out-of-the-way just in time to avoid his own attack being tossed back at him. Now he was angry. This type of stuff just needed to stop. It was _his _sword and he didn't like that its powers were constantly being copied or stolen.

As he and Sesshoumaru fought, Inuyasha had to trust in the blade alone. He had to trust _himself. _When Sesshoumaru opened the Meidou Zangetsuha, faith and trust in his blade was all Inuyasha had. Both he and Sesshoumaru were sucked into the black void.

Kagome began to pace and chewed on her lip, no matter how much Ryura had tried to get her to stop it. Tsuyoshi was as close to the Meidou Zangetsuha as he dared to get, staring into the void with concerned eyes. He was confused beyond belief why Sesshoumaru would show up out of no where and attack his brother like he had. Everything the Daiyoukai did had a reason, and at that moment, Tsuyoshi couldn't think of any proper reason for them to kill each other.

Everyone else was pretty much in the same panic as Kagome, showing it in various ways. Shippou had just fainted, though.

"Kagome," Ryura said as he watched her pass by him for the umpteenth time. "If you do not stop your incessant pacing and chewing your lip raw, I _will _make you regret it."

Kagome stuck her tongue out in defiance at him as a response.

Back and forth, back and forth Kagome went, not once stopping her pacing or chewing on her lip. Her eyes would glance at the open portal, and sometimes she was tempted to jump in it herself. She half thought Tsuyoshi was standing so close to the portal just for that reason, and she knew she wouldn't be able to get by the water Dragon. What was taking so long? They weren't dead, were they?

Kagome chewed on her lip harder and she started to bleed.

"Enough!" Ryura bit out in a hissed whisper as he stalked quickly over to her as soon as she turned her back.

He placed his clawed hands on her shoulders and roughly spun her to face him. Kagome squeaked, but he didn't particularly care right at that moment. Ryura wrapped his right hand in her hair gave it a tug until she was looking directly up at him, and then he crashed his lips against Kagome's own.

Kagome felt a small volt of electricity shoot through her and she was so shocked she couldn't do anything against what was happening. Ryura was kissing her! _Her! _All thoughts of Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru flew out of her mind. She wasn't able to focus on anything except Ryura's lips on hers and on the hand he had tangled in her hair. After a long moment he pulled back, leaving Kagome stunned at the loss of contact.

She stared at him and watched as his tongue dart out to lick her blood off his lower lip that had been left from their kiss.

"Remember this. The next time you chew on your lip it is going to happen again," he said seriously.

Ryura spun on the ball of his foot and went to stand at the portal with Tsuyoshi. It was a good thing no one was looking, too. As soon as he was facing away from her, Ryura's hand shot up to cover his mouth and his face was so red it looked like his head was about to explode or steam was going to start coming out of his ears.

Kagome wasn't in much of a better state, either. It helped nothing at all when Sango suddenly appeared beside her, and regardless of what was actually happening or not, the youkai slayer had a sly grin on her face.

"So... That seemed nice," Sango said as she nudged Kagome with an elbow lightly.

"You saw!?" Kagome squeaked out. She turned an even deeper color of red.

Sango's grin widened. "Oh I saw and heard it all. When are you going to bite your lip again?"

Kagome groaned and covered her face with her hands, and Ryura, having overheard the entire thing, almost fell on his face. Tsuyoshi was about to comment on Ryura's behavior, but Sesshoumaru came walking out of the Meidou portal as if nothing happened at all, Inuyasha following behind him.

Tessaiga was in Inuyasha's hands, but Tenseiga was nowhere to be seen. Inuyasha seemed almost confused and grateful at the same time.

"Lord Sesshoumaru?" Tsuyoshi asked, but Sesshoumaru simply walked past him.

Sesshoumaru came to stand in front of Kagome, looking down to her still blushing face. Sango quickly made herself scarce because of the look Sesshoumaru was giving Kagome. She ran away towards Miroku, trying to stop herself from laughing like a maniac.

"This is going to be _good," _Sango said lowly once she reached Miroku. Studying all those years on youkai behavior was paying off!

Miroku looked back and forth, confused. Sango now had him by his sleeve and was staring excitedly at Sesshoumaru and Kagome. His mouth open and closed a few times like a fish out of water, not knowing what to say. What was going on, again? Did he miss something? Obviously he had for now his eyes were almost hanging out of his head at what he was seeing.

Sesshoumaru had raised his only hand and with his thumb, was lightly was caressing Kagome's lower lip. Then he leaned over and replaced his thumb with his lips, brushing them lightly against Kagome's.

"Whaaaaaatt—mmphh!" Miroku was quickly silenced by Sango slapping a hand over his mouth.

Ryura, at Miroku's surprised yelp, turned to see what was wrong with the monk. He saw Sango with a hand over Miroku's mouth, and the monk wore _the _most shocked expression Ryura had ever seen. He followed Miroku's gaze and instantly his face too carried the same shocked expression as Miroku.

"Oh my," Tsuyoshi said beside him, wondering himself what was going on. "I suppose Lord Sesshoumaru was not jesting."

He stole a look at his Lord and saw Ryura's face contort from one of shock to pure rage. Alarm bells went off in Tsuyoshi's head and he quickly took a giant step to the side away from Ryura.

"_Sesshoumaru!"_ Ryura bellowed the Inu Daiyoukai's name, coming out as half shout, half snarl.

Sesshoumaru slowly rose to his full height and looked over his shoulder to the raging Dragon behind him. He raised a slender brow as if silently asking, "What?"

Ryura stomped over and yanked Kagome away from Sesshoumaru as gently as possible. He wrapped as much of himself as he could around her and glared at Sesshoumaru. The Inu Daiyoukai didn't fight against it for now, knowing any rash actions could potentially harm Kagome. They were, after all, two beings with incredibly sharp claws.

"Ah?" Sesshoumaru asked with an almost amused tone. "A pity. You are not as naïve as I was almost hoping you would be."

Sesshoumaru threw a glance at Inuyasha and the hanyou bowed up.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" he yelled as he too stomped over to join in on the conversation.

"Do not test me now, Inuyasha. I may have completed the Tessaiga, but that does not mean I am willing to put up with your boorish antics," Sesshoumaru rumbled.

"Um, guys? What's going on!?" Kagome yelled, still trapped against Ryura.

Sesshoumaru looked back to Kagome and stared at her for a long moment. "I smelt you on the Dragon," he said while glancing down to her lips. "If he did not attempt to take you from me, I was simply going to begin courting you myself."

"Heke?" Kagome squeaked out the noise and hid herself further against Ryura. She wasn't for sure on how to take what Sesshoumaru just said. Ryura was happy to hide her away and turned until only her eyes could be seen peeking over his arm.

"I do not repeat myself, Kagome. You should very well know this by now."

"Now just wait a minute here! What's going on!?" Inuyasha frustratedly screamed.

Sesshoumaru actually sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers. "How you came to be so ignorant is beyond me, _little brother_. The Dragon kissed Kagome. I was attempting to see if he was as foolish as _you _are and simply let her go. A female creature as power as she is, is not one to simply toss aside."

"I'm sorry?" Inuyasha said sarcastically, ignoring the jab at his intelligence for now. "Am I hearing the human hating, disgusted by hanyou, all powerful, holier-than-thou Sesshoumaru saying he would _mate _with a human _Miko_?"

"It matters not if she is human, or if she would birth hanyou offspring," Sesshoumaru retorted calmly. "Unlike your mother, Inuyasha, Kagome is _power_. It radiates from her as if it was light from the sun. Any male youkai would be a fool to not be tempted by it."

"And what about the fact you don't want any power from something that's not you, huh?" Inuyasha asked.

Again Sesshoumaru sighed, "It would not be power for myself. It would be power for my _heir, _the one who would rule over the West and the House of the Moon. Kagome is Kagome, and would do what she wanted with her power. I would not be able to force her to act in a way she would not want. Her _child _however would be the most powerful Lord or Lady our line has ever seen, even over our sire."

Well, Inuyasha didn't have a response to that. He stalked off, muttering with his ears pinned to his head.

"Rin, come." Sesshoumaru said as the hanyou left.

Rin, who had watched quietly with wide eyes, quickly nodded and waved goodbye awkwardly. She was holding a somehow intact Tenseiga in her arms and had fumbled with it to wave. Jaken however, had to be dragged away by the collar of his haori by Ah-Un. The little gami had promptly fainted when he heard his Lord admit his wish to want to make with the Miko.

"I... uh..." Kagome laughed nervously. "You can let me go now, Ryura. They're gone."

Ryura had been silent the entire time and only now looked down to Kagome. He stared at her then hopped away like she smacked him with her reiki, which she didn't. Kagome would have been offended if it wasn't for how red his face was. Ryura noticed the same and quickly tried to hide it by covering his mouth and chin with his left hand, like he'd done before after he kissed her and turned away.

"Awwwh, that's cute! You raise your left hand when you're embarrassed!" Kagome gushed. It wasn't the first time she'd seen him do that particular action.

"Shut up!" Ryura said, still embarrassed beyond belief.

Kagome and Sango laughed until they had tears in their eyes.

* * *

Bored out of her mind, Kagome continued to kick at the small pebble she had used to try to fend off her boredom with. After half an hour of walk, kicking the pebble, walking some more, kicking the pebble, Kagome finally gave up and left the pebble behind. Shippou was busy speaking with Ryura quietly about...something. Kagome didn't know what they were doing.

Sango was taking care of Hirakotsu as she sat atop Kirara, and when the slayer went into her own little world of caring for her weapon, not even Miroku and the monk's wandering hands could take her mind off of it – not that Miroku minded, of course. Inuyasha didn't seem like he was in the mood to talk after the fight he had with Sesshoumaru. Kagome tried to ask him what happened, and what Sesshoumaru meant when he said he completed the Tessaiga, but Inuyasha brushed the question up and walked at a pace she couldn't possibly keep up with.

Glancing over her shoulder, Kagome looked at Tsuyoshi walking far behind the group. He seemed to be the only one not busy with something. She wanted to talk with him anyway so she dropped back until she was walking along side him. She nudged him with an elbow and his blue eyes turned to look down at her.

"My Lady?" he asked. "Is something wrong?"

"No! Nothing's wrong. I was just wondering if we could talk?" she asked in return with a smile.

"If that is what you wish," Tsuyoshi returned the smile.

"What... What happened earlier?"

"Earlier?" one of Tsuyoshi's thin blue-white eyebrows rose with question. Kagome nervously pointed ahead at Ryura, and Tsuyoshi's eyes grew wide. "Ah, _that_. Inuyasha-sama has truly not taught you anything, hm?"

"Taught me anything?" Kagome's gaze flicked from him to Inuyasha, wondering what Tsuyoshi meant.

"About youkai," Tsuyoshi supplied. Kagome shook her head negatively and he nodded. "Very well. Lord Sesshoumaru, as you heard, was testing Lord Ryura. If he had not attempted to take you from him, then Lord Sesshoumaru would have attempted to court you for reasons you heard."

"Well, yeah I got that – sort of. I'm still not for sure what to make of that," Kagome muttered. "Ryura and I, uh, we're not courting, so why would Sesshoumaru care about that?"

"You are not?" Tsuyoshi asked, surprised. His eyes narrowed shortly after and he glared at Ryura's back. "He should not have shown you such affections then."

"I think he was just trying to get me to stop biting myself," Kagome said with a half-smile. "He did say that if I bit my lip again, he'd kiss me. I took it as a warning not to bite myself _unless_ I wanted him to kiss me again."

Tsuyoshi fell silent and began to roll the ball of thoughts around in his head. What was Ryura _doing? _He thought on it for a few more moments before a smirk slowly appeared on his lips.

"Excuse me, Lady Kagome. I must see to something," he murmured to her before disappearing with a small puff of foggy air.

Kagome wanted to scream. So much for_ that_. She sped up to catch up with the group again, grumbling the entire way. Now what was she going to do?

Miroku, noticing Kagome's foul mood, decided to stop messing around with Sango and moved to walk evenly beside the Miko. He gave her a kind smile when she looked up at him.

"I believe now would be a good time to focus on your training," he said with the same smile still plastered on his face.

"Really!?" Kagome exclaimed, excited now. Miroku nodded and Kagome had to force down the squeal she felt building up.

"Close your eyes. I will keep you from running into anything," Miroku promised and Kagome did as he asked. He placed a hand on her shoulder to guide her, then leaned over and murmured, "Find you reiki and pull it towards the surface, but do not allow it to fully be brought out. Hover it between the surface and your soul."

Below his hand he slowly began to feel Kagome's reiki swirl inside her. It took her some time, but she finally did as he instructed. He could feel it thrumming along underneath his hand, and when he felt it even out, he brought his own holy powers to mingle with hers. Kagome's spiked high in return and Miroku gave her a shoulder a soft squeeze, telling her to keep it steady.

Miroku had Kagome keep her reiki in such a state until they were close to a village.

"What you just did is the normal state those of us with reiki will keep that power in. It can easily be brought forward without much effort. You must practice this carefully, Lady Kagome. Reiki is a force that can easily harm as it can heal, and it is something that reacts to anything that could be a possible danger. You felt it react to mine, yes?" he asked after explaining.

Kagome nodded as she blinked her eyes open, squinting at the light of the sun.

"Once you can successfully keep your reiki in such a state without it going out of control, I will continue your lessons. For now, however, practice this as much as you can. It can easily be done no matter what you are doing. Walking, talking, even fighting," Miroku let his hand fall back down to his side.

"But my eyes would be closed? I can't exactly aim while my eyes are closed," Kagome said with a grin.

Miroku chuckled. "I only had your eyes close for this time specifically. You do not need to keep them closed. The first time this is attempted it is better to not have too much to distract you. Now, however, you have felt what it is supposed to be like."

"Oooh..." Kagome nodded once.

Miroku gave her a another smile before speeding up to walk along beside Inuyasha. The two men dropped into quiet conversation and Kagome was left to her own devices. She could see the village ahead of them and grinned widely. Hopefully they would be able to spend the night there and she could take a bath.


	23. Chapter 23: Inu no Taisho

Chapter 23:

Inu no Taisho

"It is good to love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is well done."  
― Vincent van Gogh

Prompts: Rise by John Dreamer and Shards of Light by Arn Andersson

* * *

The pack of Naraku hunters found quite quickly that their moment of peace was not meant to last. Ryura and Tsuyoshi felt a backlash of Sesshoumaru's youki, showing the Inu Daiyoukai was involved in some large battle. Inuyasha's mind immediately went to Naraku.

"Come on!" Inuyasha yelled.

Ryura was fast to pick up Kagome and head off in the direction Sesshoumaru was in. The rest trailed not far behind him. The Inu Daiyoukai wasn't far away from them and when they saw what was happening, Kagome let out an ear-piercing scream.

Sesshoumaru was being covered in flesh from the body of Magatsuhi, the very one who had sealed Kagome's power when she was a child. Sticking through Sesshoumaru's chest, his armor shattered, was a long tentacle-like appendage made from Magatsuhi's body.

"Ryura, put me down!" Kagome thrashed against his hold, but he didn't budge.

Ryura growled softly and hopped back into the air, high above the battle. No matter what he did, Kagome wouldn't stop trying to get away from him. Sesshoumaru was now completely covered. Magatsuhi laughed, angering Kagome further. Why wasn't anyone _helping _him!?

"_Magatsuhi!_" Kagome screamed. "Let him _go! _Inuyasha, someone, go help Sesshoumaru!"

The dark spirit of the Shikon no Tama looked up in the sky at the Miko being held by Ryura.

"Little Kagome!" Magatsuhi called out, voice dripping with venom. "How good it is to see you again!"

"Kagome!" Ryura said firmly. "Look at me!"

The Miko managed to tear her eyes away from Magatsuhi and looked at Ryura. He was frowning, looking far from pleased. He took in the desperation settled in Kagome's eyes and let out a soft sigh while leaning forward to rest his forehead against hers.

"Trust Sesshoumaru. Why do you think none of the others are helping?" he murmured as he brushed his nose along Kagome's cheek. "Trust him, and watch."

Kagome's breath caught in her throat, but she slowly slid her eyes to watch the writhing mass that covered Sesshoumaru anyway. Seconds ticked by, feeling like years, until a neon green light broke through the flesh of Magatsuhi, shooting up towards the sky. It was closely followed by another, and another.

"What!?" Magatsuhi yelled, not believing what he was seeing. This was impossible!

More and more the green light spilled from the cracks now being formed, and eventually, the mass of flesh exploded. Sesshoumaru stood in the wake of the explosion, holding in his _left _hand a glimmering sword that was glowing with the same neon green light. He brought the sword closer to his face, examining it for a moment, then he looked up to Kagome and Ryura high in the air.

Sesshoumaru watched for a long moment before turning his attentions back to Magatsuhi. The spirit of the Shikon no Tama held a look of horror and confusion on his face. Magatsuhi found it hard to move. His body wouldn't listen to him, no matter how hard he tried to get it to work. He could only watch with further horror as Sesshoumaru raised the sword high into the air and with a roar bring it down on the lingering bits of flesh that were once again trying to consume him.

Explosion after explosion resulting in bright green bursts of light flew through the air, heading directly for what remained of Magatsuhi's body. The spirit screamed as its corporal form was annihilated in the face of Sesshoumaru's attack. There was nothing he could do to stop it. It didn't matter that he had tried to separate part of his body from that which was being literally eaten by the neon-green energy. It followed after him until nothing was left but the echoing sounds of Magatsuhi's enraged screams.

A large, ethereal face appeared in the sky, its backdrop dark storm clouds, and as it stared with hatred and loathing at Sesshoumaru, its face contorted into rage.

"This is not over, Lord of the West!" the face yelled with a booming voice that shook the very air itself.

Ryura was forced to land, not liking the way the air vibrated around Kagome and him. He curled his body around Kagome and they both continued to watch as the true face of Magatsuhi floated in the air. His angry eyes flicked between everyone there and finally they centered on Kagome.

A dark energy in the shape of a lightning bolt suddenly crackled along the air and flew from the ethereal face to head for the young Miko. He needed to kill her,_now_. The seal on her powers was beginning to weaken. Magatsuhi could feel it, and should that happen, there was no way he was going to survive the last battle when it happened.

Ryura shoved Kagome behind him with one hand as he drew Fujinga with the other. He felt the Miko press herself against his back and cling to his armor, shaking with something akin to fear. As the black lightning headed for them, Ryura shoved his sword downwards, embedding it deep within the earth.

"Dragon Gale!" he called out towards his sword. The tornado-like dorm appeared over himself and Kagome right as the lightning bolt reached them.

The two energies clashed, black meeting white as Ryura fed his youki into the defensive technique. His teeth grit together with the effort it took to fend off Magatsuhi's attack and it was taking every bit of youki he had stored away to keep the technique going. This guy was _strong_, empowered by the full and corrupt Shikon no Tama.

Beneath her hands Kagome felt Ryura begin to shake. She looked up them at the wind surrounding her, watching as black and white energy clashed together like raging waters. Around her she could hear the concerned yells of her friend, and she could hear Sesshoumaru and Tsuyoshi saying her and Ryura's names.

They couldn't get close enough to help. The power was too strong, too chaotic for them to attempt it. Inuyasha tried but he was quickly tossed away, his body smoking as he laid on the ground, unconscious and unresponsive to Shippou's calls.

Ryura's shaking hand that was pressed against her hip released her, and Kagome watched as he slowly rose it to grab Raijinga's hilt. It soon joined Fujinga in the ground, and his attacks were increased with earnest. White-blue lightning sparked around them, shooting up to clash against the still flowing Magatsuhi's black lightning.

The Dragon Daiyoukai was pushing himself as far as he could, trying to keep Kagome safe. Sweat beaded his forehead, his teeth clenched together even further. Kagome could see the muscles of his arms bulge out through his shirt, the white fabric clinging to his form now.

He was doing this for her, to keep her safe. Ryura could have easily moved out-of-the-way, but Kagome would have been left seriously injured or dead. Even though he was pushing himself to the point he looked like he could fall over dead at any moment, he never moved. He stood firmly against Magatsuhi's empowered attack, all for Kagome.

Within her, at that realization, Kagome felt something break. The pink of her reiki exploded from her body like a pent-up fire, licking out at the edges of the Dragon Gale, and Kagome screamed. Her scream pierced through the sounds of the two waging forces of Ryura and Magatsuhi, bring about another attempt from her friends to get close and help, but again none of them were able.

Pink slowly bled into blue and the fire that was Kagome's power flew high into the air, breaking through the black and white, through the wind and lightning. Her head fell back as she continued to scream, and the world around her ceased to move.

Time itself slowed down as the seal on Kagome's power shattered and both her and Ryura were overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of how strong that power was. And yet, even though it was reiki, the force meant to oppose youkai, Ryura remained unharmed. The blue reiki wrapped around him in a soft embrace, renewing his energy.

Ryura let go of Raijinga's hilt and reached for one of Kagome's hands still on his back. When he had it in his grasp, he pulled it around until the arm was wrapped around him, and he held onto her tightly, focusing on her energy only to combine it with his own.

Like an arrow, the mixed energies of white and blue sailed towards Magatsuhi, slicing the floating face in half. Magatsuhi roared with pain, fading from existence with a promise left on the wind that he _would _see them again.

Kagome collapsed against Ryura's back as the Dragon knelt. He never let go of Fujinga and not once did he release Dragon Gale. He kept it going, not for sure if Magatsuhi would keep his promise now or later. Ryura didn't want to chance Magatsuhi showing up right as he released the Dragon Gale.

Even as he knelt, Kagome didn't let go of Ryura and she too dropped to her knees. Her reiki still flowed from her, combining with the tornadic winds of Ryura's technique. She couldn't make it stop. It was too much, too strong, and she didn't know what she was doing. The only thought going through Kagome's mind was that she couldn't allow herself to hurt Ryura. It was a miracle to her that he was even still alive. She realized then she did, in fact, have some miniscule amount of control over what she was doing.

"Kagome," Ryura ground out. "Let it go. It's okay. I'll be fine."

"No!" Kagome screamed and she clung to him tighter. "I don't want to hurt you!"

Ryura gave a weak laugh and squeezed the hand he was still holding on to. "Like this could kill me. Have a little faith, woman."

Kagome pulled back to stare at Ryura's face. He was looking over his shoulder at her. Ever so slowly she nodded and did as he said. She let go. Her reiki shot up as a column into the sky, parting the clouds above them. Years and years of held back energy had finally found its release, and now there was nothing Kagome could do to stop it.

Sango had to drag Inuyasha away when she saw what skin was showing begin to turn red. Kagome's power was accidentally burning Inuyasha. It was even affecting Shippou. The young Kitsune youkai was forced to scurry away.

None of the youkai could help it when their youki began to leak from them like a slowly bleeding wound. Red from Sesshoumaru, blue from Tsuyoshi, gold from Inuyasha, green from Shippou, and literal flames from Kirara. Each of them were surrounded by their youki as they were forced backwards.

Further and further they were pushed back as the column of Kagome's reiki grew, and each of them worried for Ryura would was trapped in the middle of the chaos.

Ryura, however, was unharmed. He let go of Fujinga, causing the Dragon Gale to drop abruptly, and quickly he turned around and grabbed Kagome to hug her to his chest. Her head was tilted back and she was screaming again, but Ryura didn't let go, even when blood trickled out of his right ear. He held tightly onto her and simply let her reiki flow over him.

Slowly the light died down until it disappeared after forming only a thin line a few inches wide. The clouds resumed their positions, only for rain to fall shortly after. The heavens opened up and drenched any who were not under cover.

Kagome's head lulled forward to land roughly against the side of Ryura's bare neck. She was still conscious, but barely. Ryura leaned up slightly to look around, trying to find the others, but the rain was too heavy. The literal sheet of water corrupted his vision and he sighed. Since he couldn't see, Ryura was going to have to wait until the rain let up until he dared to move.

In the mean time he decided to just try and cover Kagome as best he could. Ryura pulled her closer to him and hunched his large form over Kagome's smaller one. He could feel her body shaking with silent sobs, making him frown slightly and lower his face until his mouth was beside her ear. There was no way she was going to hear him otherwise. The rain was too loud.

"I'm fine, Kagome," he said over the roaring water.

Kagome looked up to him, coming back to her senses. She rose up on her knees and threw her arms around his neck, holding onto him as tightly as her weak body would allow, and she cried. She wailed, yelling how sorry she was, that she could have killed him.

"But you didn't!" Ryura retorted. "I'm perfectly fine!"

Kagome only cried harder, this time out of relief.

They stayed that way, holding each other, until the rain finally let up and disappeared altogether. Ryura helped Kagome stand, then supported her by wrapping an arm around her waist. She was still far too weak to walk on her own. Ryura found himself leaning on her for support, as well.

Sango was the first to arrive, gently taking Kagome from Ryura and lowering the young woman to sit on the barren, drenched ground. They spoke quietly as Shippou ran to join in. He clung to Kagome's neck, sobbing at how relieved he was to see her and Ryura still alive.

The others moved forward and soon Kagome was surrounded by multiple people, even Sesshoumaru. When Kagome saw him, soaking wet with two arms and a new sword clutched in his left hand, she cried out and pushed herself to stand despite Sango trying to keep Kagome in one place. She stumbled over to Sesshoumaru, who had held out an arm to catch her, and when she was against him, she wrapped her arms around the middle of his torso and hugged him tightly.

Sesshoumaru slowly wrapped his free hand not holding his new sword around Kagome's shoulders, flicking his eyes up to Ryura. The Dragon simply smiled and shrugged his shoulders, as if saying "What can you do?"

Looking back down to the woman sobbing against him, Sesshoumaru sighed softly and tightened his grip on her a fraction. His eyes, however, were centered on a black dot in the sky that was rapidly approaching. It was Totosai sitting atop Momo, his flying cow.

Everyone except Kagome watched him come to land and hop off the back of Momo. Totosai clicked his tongue at seeing Kagome as close to Sesshoumaru as she was, but he pushed that to the back of his head for the moment, instead looking directly at the sword Sesshoumaru was holding. Totosai turned and pulled off a scabbard that matched the color and appearance of Sesshoumaru's sword's hilt, then with his other hand, did the 'gimme' motion.

Sesshoumaru growled softly but allowed Totosai to take the sword anyway.

"Nice one you have here, Sesshoumaru," Totosai murmured as he 'spoke' with the sword. "It's name is Bakusaiga."

"Bakusaiga..." Sesshoumaru repeated slowly. "Explosive Crushing Fang... How fitting."

His voice rumbled Kagome into the present, making her aware of what she was doing. She squeaked and tried to squirm away, but Sesshoumaru wasn't having it. He wrapped his newly returned left arm around her, letting go with his right, and turned them both to face Totosai. The sword smith slid Bakusaiga into its sheath with a click, then handed it back to its master.

Before Sesshoumaru could take it fully, and only had his right hand wrapped around it, Totosai looked up into the Inu Daiyoukai's eyes.

"With this you have surpassed your father. May your reign by righteous, Inu no Taisho," he said then fully let go of the sword.

Sesshoumaru's eyes widened for a moment as he stared down at his sword. With this sword, Bakusaiga, pulled from his very being, Sesshoumaru passed his father in power while the former Inu no Taisho was still among the living. Sesshoumaru now held his father's title, just as Totosai said.

Sparing a look down at the little Miko still trapped in his arm, Sesshoumaru came to realize it was her voice, her shouting, that woke a deep part of him that he'd never known to exist before now. He slid his golden gaze over to Ryura and hummed thoughtfully. Perhaps he wouldn't let the Dragon have her so easily. It all depended on Ryura and how fast he would act.

* * *

Inuyasha grumbled as he stared at Sesshoumaru's sword. Big freakin' whoopee do, he thought to himself. So what? He managed to regenerate his arm and pull a sword from his youki. What was the big deal about that, huh? Tapping his clawed fingers against his cheek, Inuyasha snorted and finally looked away from his elder-half brother.

The hanyou kept himself on the ground in a brooding position, not really wanting to look at anyone at the moment. That was, at least, until Miroku piped up from his spot by the brightly burning fire.

"I think the last battle with Naraku is going to happen soon," he said, a disturbed frown on his face.

Sango glanced at Miroku and nodded firmly. "I think so, too. We might want to go back to Kaede's village and prepare."

"We'll go in the morning, then." Inuyasha grumbled loud enough for everyone to hear. He then laid on his back and rolled over, facing away from the fire, with his hand propping up his head. His puppy ears twitched back and forth, listening to the sounds of the night and to Kagome's soft breathing.

The Miko had gone to sleep before the sun set. Which was probably a good thing. Inuyasha had felt the amount of power she had released, and he was amazed she stayed awake as long as she had – not that he'd ever say that out loud. Either way, with Kagome's true power unsealed, Inuyasha _knew _the last fight was going to go much smoother. It would still be harrowing, knowing Naraku he would throw everything he had at them, but with Kagome coming along, they wouldn't need an army at their back like Inuyasha thought they would once upon a time.

Inuyasha closed his eyes and listened carefully to the sounds around him, expanding just beyond Kagome's breathing. He heard Miroku and Sango speaking quietly enough that he couldn't exactly make out what they were talking about, but from what he could hear, it seemed to be about Naraku.

Tsuyoshi was further back, resting against a tree with Ryura lounging against the opposite side of him, facing towards the woods and what the darkness hid. Sesshoumaru sat close to his own pack, silently watching over his own sleep.

Everyone seemed to be at peace for the most part.

Ryura, however, was far from being at peace. This was the first time in a few days he had been this far away from Kagome while she was sleeping. He twitched at the thought and growled low enough it only rumbled his chest.

He shot up to his feet and stepped lightly over to where Kagome and Shippou lay, then lowered himself to sit at their side. Ryura felt his body relax and he nodded to himself, folding his arms over his chest. This would do.

Tsuyoshi clicked his tongue and shook his head, causing both Ryura and Sesshoumaru to look at him. They kept their question to themselves, waiting for the rest of the group to finally go to sleep.

And when Miroku was the last one to succumb to slumber, Ryura rose slightly and turned to face Tsuyoshi.

"What was that about, eh?" he asked.

Tsuyoshi looked over. "Whatever do you mean, my Lord?" he answered a question with a question.

"You know damn well what I mean," Ryura answered.

"I am curious as well, Tsuyoshi," Sesshoumaru said, his head tilting to one side as his gaze slid over from the fire to look at the water Dragon.

Tsuyoshi sighed quietly and shifted. He waited until he was a bit more comfortable, then began to speak. "Lord Ryura, you are not courting Lady Kagome."

"And...?" came Ryura's bland voice.

Tsuyoshi fixed him with a small glare. "And yet you act as if you were. It is dishonorable to Lady Kagome."

Ryura sat back and blinked. "Pardon?"

"Your actions prevent another male from courting her who would not normally challenge you due to your status as Daiyoukai," Sesshoumaru explained.

Tsuyoshi nodded his head in agreement. "Exactly. I know you were ripped from your parents at a young age, Lord Ryura, and I doubt Ryuukotsusei taught you courting etiquette, _however_..." he trailed off, pausing for just a split second. "Unless you wish to truly court Lady Kagome, you are only dishonoring yourself and her with your actions."

Ryura, shocked, looked between Tsuyoshi and Sesshoumaru. They would be dishonored over his apparent ignorance of _courting etiquette_? Were they kidding him? By the serious looks on their faces, Ryura knew they weren't.

He looked down to Kagome's peacefully sleeping face and frowned. This was not the time to be worrying about over who was courting who. He kept himself close to her to protect her, as Magatsuhi obviously wanted Kagome dead. So, he was supposed to ignore her safety in favor of _etiquette_?

"Fuck that," Ryura growled out. "Kagome will remain at my side, regardless of what _you two_ or anyone else believes. I will not keep her in harms way to keep in time with some fucking useless traditions. If someone wants to court her but can't find the balls to challenge me because they already think she is mine, then they don't deserve her in the first place!"

Sesshoumaru and Tsuyoshi looked at Ryura with surprise, not expecting that. So far, whenever Tsuyoshi explained something Ryura hadn't had the chance to learn until now, the Dragon went along without any resistance. This was a sore subject, they guessed, and they allowed the matter to drop for now.

Ryura spun himself around roughly. His clawed fingers dug deeply into his thighs and he felt blood pool under his fingertips, but he didn't care right now. He was angry beyond angry. He was _pissed._ How dare they want him to put etiquette and tradition over Kagome's own safety.

As he silently fumed, Kagome watched from under half-lidded eyes. The small spike of Ryura's youki had woken her up and she managed to hear the last half of the conversation.

Ryura was muttering under his breath and his brows were furrowed. Kagome glanced down to his hands and saw his claws in his thighs, and she sighed softly. Slowly, as not to surprise him, she reached out and gently tried to pry his fingers away from himself. Ryura looked at her from the corner of his eyes and Kagome smiled softly while squeezing the hand she held.

"It's okay," she whispered. "And thank you."

All of Ryura's anger left him, seeping away at Kagome's words. His body relaxed and he wove his fingers through hers. He didn't say anything however, instead letting his actions speak for him.

When she fell asleep again, Ryura didn't remove his hand from hers. He held her hand throughout the night, even though he felt Tsuyoshi's glare searing his back.

The next morning, Kagome purposely ignored both Sesshoumaru and Tsuyoshi, to their chagrin. The Miko acted perfectly normal with everyone else, though! She just wanted to make it known that she didn't appreciate Ryura being treated like he had.

They weren't courting, so what? That sure didn't stop Sesshoumaru from kissing her! Kagome thought Ryura's behavior towards her was perfectly fine. She knew as well as anyone that she was in no shape to fight on her own, and until she was able to, she was going to take the protection Ryura was offering. You don't look a gifted horse in the mouth, after all.

All the way back to Kaede's village she snubbed Sesshoumaru and Tsuyoshi, and purposely touched Ryura more than she normally would have, just to get her point across.

She was her own person, and she silently dared them to say otherwise. The modern woman who was Kagome came out in full force and if she wanted to plant kisses all over Ryura's face while he carried her back to the village, those two sticks-in-the-mud weren't going to stop her!

But, Kagome was too modest to do such a thing, no matter how angry she was.

Instead she grumped and muttered almost Inuyasha-like rude comments about the two Daiyoukai.

Ryura was trying _so _hard not to laugh his head off the last stretch to the village. He wore a grin most of the day. Kagome's sour mood mixed with Ryura's own elated mood only served to confuse everyone but Tsuyoshi and Sesshoumaru, but no one really wanted to ask what was going on – Inuyasha especially. Kagome just looked too angry and he didn't feel like being sat right now.

When Kagome announced she was going home to rest and prepare for the battle, not a single soul said anything against it. Ryura went with her, intending on staying for roughly an hour to say hello to Kagome's family.

Those left behind immediately rounded on Sesshoumaru and Tsuyoshi.

"What did you two do!?" Sango asked hotly. She had been the most affected by her sister's anger.

"We did nothing, slayer." Sesshoumaru said with a small glare in her direction.

Sango growled. "You must have done something! Didn't you see the way Kagome was acting!?"

"I gotta agree with her, Sesshoumaru. I've ever only seen Kagome act that angry when I did somethin' stupid," Inuyasha said with a grin. Now that Kagome was gone, he was happy to see someone else on the receiving end of her anger besides himself.

Tsuyoshi rubbed his forehead, trying to ease away the headache he felt coming on. "Lord Sesshoumaru and I simply explained to Lord Ryura that his actions towards Lady Kagome were unbecoming, ignoring all courting etiquette. Since they are not courting, they were dishonoring themselves. I assume Lady Kagome woke up when Lord Ryura became angry, and overheard."

"What!?" Inuyasha yelped. "That's stupid!"

"Coming from one who grew up as an animal, that does not make much of an impact, Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru bit out.

"Like hell that makes a difference! I never thought I'd say this and mean it, but ya two goofballs are fuckin' idiots!" Inuyasha said. Despite the grin on his face his words were harsh and scolding.

"Why ever are we the idiots, Inuyasha-sama?" Tsuyoshi asked with a frown.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes as he brought his arms to rest behind his head. "I'm gonna let Miroku explain it. He gets it better than I do," he said.

Miroku nodded twice, agreeing wholeheartedly with what Inuyasha had been saying the entire time. "Lady Kagome, as you two are aware, is from the future. Five hundred years, to be exact. Things are not the same in her era. You two greatly insulted her by telling Lord Ryura to keep his hands to himself."

"We... insulted _her_?" Tsuyoshi asked, shocked. "What in the world?"

"Where Lady Kagome is from, it is not rare for men and women to be more giving of their affections towards those they are close friends with. For example, have you ever seen Lady Kagome flinch away from hugging Inuyasha or myself when she is happy?" he asked, curious.

"No," Sesshoumaru admitted, and Tsuyoshi shook his head shortly. "I have not, either."

"And there you go. You basically told her she can't hug, touch, or stand close to an extremely good friend of hers," Sango said next.

Shippou, who had been silent and sitting on Miroku's head, decided to throw in his two cents as well. "If she thought like you guys did, then she wouldn't have ever adopted me, 'cause I'm a male and not directly related to her. It wouldn't have mattered how old I was. In the eyes of society, both human and youkai, what Kagome did with me would've been seen as wrong."

Tsuyoshi sucked in a sharp breath of air then. "I see. She would have never given you the affection you needed as a child."

Shippou gave a sage-nod, happy Tsuyoshi got what he was trying to say.

"Y'see, Kagome doesn't work that way. She's a kind woman, and loves showing others how she feels. She'll yell at you if she's angry – well she'll sit me. She'll hug you if she's happy with something you've done for her or someone else. She's really expressive," Inuyasha said. "If anything I thought Sesshoumaru would've gotten that by now. He's known her for almost a year now."

"I believe you all are forgetting it is not simply hugging, or touching," Sesshoumaru said in response to Inuyasha's jab. "If you do not remember, Ryura has kissed her."

"Yeah, to stop her from biting herself. Or would you rather she bleed all the time and attract who knows what?" Sango asked with a thoughtful tilt of her head. "I know he's tried to get her to stop before. Growling at her just wasn't working anymore."

Miroku nodded quickly in agreement with Sango. "That said, both parties were wrong in this situation, and for the sake of killing Naraku, I believe it would be best to let it go."

"What!?" Inuyasha exclaimed. "Whaddya talkin' about, monk!?"

Sighing, Miroku explained. "This is not Lady Kagome's era. How she acting is a bit off-putting to others who do not know her origins. To us, however, who know better it is more understandable. That is how it is both parties fault. Lady Kagome for refusing to look at it in the way Lord Sesshoumaru and Tsuyoshi-sama do, and their fault because they _should_ have not expected anything different from her."

Enlightenment lit up Inuyasha's face. "Oh. I get it now. Yeah, we might just wanna put this away 'til after we kill Naraku."

"Agreed," five voices agreed in unison.

* * *

Kagome looked down at the papers in her hands, her eyes wide and her breath coming out in excited pants. She passed! She passed every single exam she took with a score of ninety or higher, too! Eri had delivered the tests to Kagome's house while Kagome was gone, and in the end, managed to snatch back her magazine, too.

Though Eri did leave a small sticky note on one of Kagome's tests to let Kagome know she wasn't going to forgive her for running off with her magazine in the first place until Ryura Kumori came with Kagome to apologize!

Kagome, however, pushed that thought aside. She passed!

Clutching the papers to her chest, Kagome cackled dangerously. She wanted nothing more than to find Hojo and shove it in his face. Unfortunately for Kagome, however, Hojo was still in the hospital, and it looked like he wasn't going to be released until he admitted he didn't see two demonic looking beings and that one had purposely shot lightning at him.

Ryura shuddered at Kagome's cackle, hoping it wasn't for him. She was standing behind him as he sat on the couch, talking to Souta and Daisuke.

"I'm pleased you came to visit us, Ryura!" Daisuke said happily. "Only proper, after all."

Daisuke was teasing them. Eri had asked all about Kagome's "boyfriend" when she came to drop off the papers. If it wasn't for Hitomi understanding what was going on, their cover would've been blown.

Ryura let out a chuckle as he rose to his feet, ruffling Souta's hair at the same time.

"I will need to return. There are a few things I will need to see to," he said with a smile.

"What? Already?" Kagome asked from behind him.

Ryura moved around the couch to stand in front of her. He leaned over to look at the papers in her hand and smiled, pleased with what he was seeing. Kagome had explained to him that the way she was graded was on a hundred point basis. The higher the number as a result, the better she did.

"Tell me when Hojo is released from the...hospital," the foreign word took him a bit to get used to. "I wish to see his face as much as you do."

"Alright! But you didn't answer my question," Kagome pouted. "And what if you can't get through the well without me?"

"Yes, I need to leave already," he said as he tapped her nose with a finger. "And if I can't get through the well, I will simply come back for you."

"Fine, fine," Kagome grumbled playfully. "Tell everyone I said hello, and that I'll be coming back in the morning."

"I will," Ryura promised.

He was gone after saying goodbye to her family, and Kagome went about meditating as Kaede had shown her, along with doing what Miroku had asked of her. She has far more power now to get used to, and she didn't want it to go bonkers when she fought against Naraku. Her family mostly left her alone, sensing something important was about to happen.

Kagome sat under the shade of the Sacred Tree for hours, slipping in and out of her meditative state. Her power danced across her body until she would pull it back in. She repeated this until she felt she had a better control over than she did before.

When she opened her eyes, it took her blinking them a few times to realize what was going on in front of her. At first she thought it was just her imagination or an illusion but the more she blinked, the less blurry her vision became. This wasn't an illusion at all.

Sitting in front of her a few feet away was a man dressed in a very expensive looking black suit that was slightly disheveled. The first few buttons of his navy blue shirt were undone and his black tie was loosened about his neck, hanging haphazardly to the side. Stylishly cut short black hair was half smoothed back with parts of it falling into his eyes that were closed.

Kagome recognized him after she adjusted to seeing him.

"R-Ryura?"

Bright green eyes opened to greet her and he grinned. "Hey, Kagome."

"You... you're here..." she breathed out.

Kagome had been worried something horrible had happened between them in the past. After she found out Ryura was alive in her era, she couldn't stop her brain from running itself crazy trying to come up with a reason why the modern Ryura wouldn't come to visit her. But he was here now, sitting in front of her, wearing the same grin she saw from the five hundred year younger Ryura not more than seven hours before.

Ryura leaned back to rest on his hands and his grin grew. "Of course I am. I felt my youki disappear and made my way over here as fast as I could."

Kagome saw a light in his eyes that he didn't have in the past. He seemed more...carefree. Happier. She was glad he was doing well.

"I don't want to sound rude, but why now?" she asked softly.

The grin fell from his face, but he kept leaning back on his hands. His green eyes looked up into the branches of the Sacred Tree and he sighed softly, "It's actually thanks to your mother. Five hundred years ago, for me, I asked her the same thing, kind of. She said that this version of me, in front of you now, probably didn't want to scare you because we had been enemies until recently."

"That makes sense..." Kagome trailed off. "Um... How have you been?"

Ryura looked back to her and smiled softly in a way Kagome had never seen before. "I have been extremely well."

Silence fell between them and Kagome found herself wanting to ask what had happened, but a part of her knew he wouldn't tell her for the same reason she didn't freely hand out information on the future to her friends in the past.

"I have a family," Ryura whispered. "One of my sons is an instructor at Tokyo University, but since most of my children look like they could be mine or my mate's siblings, it's not something we can really show to the public."

Kagome's world came to a halt. He had a family? Of course he would, after all this time. Kagome knew he would need an heir for his lands and his House. But why did it hurt so much?

She forced herself to smile. "Really? That's wonderful! I'd love to meet them one day."

Her words didn't seem to fool him. Ryura rose off his hands and scooted forward until they were sitting with their knees lightly touching. He took her hands in his and leaned towards her until their resting together.

Kagome wanted to cry. If he had a family, why was he doing this to her? It hit her then that Ryura must see her as nothing but a close friend, a part of his House. If he treated her so well and she was only his friend, Kagome couldn't imagine how well he treated his mate. She had to be the luckiest person alive in the world.

At that thought, Kagome felt jealously surge through her body.

"It happens tomorrow," he whispered, staring directly into her eyes.

It?

Kagome's eyes widened. The last battle with Naraku. She couldn't find the words to express what she was feeling. Anxiety, worry, jealously, shock – it all was a jumbled mess in her mind and her heart.

"I missed you," he said in a way that did actually made Kagome cry. Hot tears spilled down her cheeks.

Ryura's grip on her hands tightened. It felt so odd to her to not feel the light prickling of his claws against her skin. She let out a silent sob that racked her body.

"Can I stay with you until you go back?" he asked after a long moment.

"B-but your... your family," Kagome hiccuped.

"They know," he responded softly.

Kagome rose up on her knees and flung her arms around him, cradling his head against her chest. She felt his body shake with emotion and could feel how much he was wanting to say, but couldn't, simply by how hard he was holding her.

Kagome knew then that she was going to die tomorrow. She was going to sacrifice herself to save the world from Naraku and the Shikon no Tama.

She buried her face into his short hair. The black locks became damp as her tears continued to flow. Her eyes were open and she was staring down at him, not knowing what to do besides cling to him.

* * *

A.N.: DON'T KILL ME, EVERYTHING HAS A PURPOSE! I swear! For those of you who have seen The Final Act, you can pretty much see Sesshoumaru doesn't get his sword in the exact same way as he does in the anime. I've been changing things here in there to include Ryura and Tsuyoshi, hehe.


	24. Chapter 24: Ruination of the Grim Reaper

Chapter 24:

Ruination of the Grim Reaper

"Woe, destruction, ruin, and decay; the worst is death and death will have his day."  
― William Shakespeare, _Richard II _

Prompt: Eyes Closing by Two Steps from Hell and The Hero in Your Heart by Two Steps from Hell

* * *

Kagome continued to hold Ryura as tightly as she dared. It was only when twilight hit that she let go of him, after she found she couldn't cry anymore. She pulled back to look down at him, and he up at her. His eyes were now the same red she was used to, but his hair remained black. Kagome gave him a small, sad smile, one he hesitatingly returned.

"Your hair," she hoarsely said. "It's so short."

Just to prove her point she ran her fingers through the black locks and Ryura let out a broken sounding chuckle.

"Having hair that touches the floor is not generally seen as a good thing in this era when you are a man," he said playfully.

"It's a shame!" Kagome continued to run her fingers through it, grumbling inwardly when his hair would run out and she was left with nothing but empty air.

"Kagome!" Hitomi's voice echoed through the courtyard of the Shrine and Kagome looked up. "Eri's on the phone!"

"I'll be right there, mama!" Kagome called back.

She smiled down at Ryura again and together the two stood. Their hands instantly found the others and their fingers wove together as they headed towards the house. Ryura would have liked to walk slower, but knowing Kagome wanted to speak to her friend for what she thought was going to be the last time, he allowed her to keep walking the fast pace she had taken.

When they were in the house, Kagome excused herself and took the phone from her mother, disappearing into the kitchen.

Souta, sitting on the couch and watching one of his favorite shows, did a double take when he saw Ryura.

"Whoa! I thought you left, and what are you wearing!?" he asked as he bounced him from his seat to hang over the back of the couch. Souta's hand found a corner of Ryura's suit jacket and he fingered it with an expression of awe at how soft it felt. It was nothing like the stuff his mother would force him into on special occasions.

"I'm glad to see you again, Souta!" Ryura laughed. "And I did just leave, but I just arrived, too."

Souta gave the man a confused look. "What...?"

"You're this era's Ryura, aren't you?" Hitomi asked with a small grin.

"No way!" Souta said.

"Yes way," Ryura chuckled as he ruffled the boy's hair. It had been so _long _for him since he'd visited with the Higurashi family.

The door to the kitchen slightly swung open and Kagome's head popped out.

"Hey, Ryura... Eri is wanting to know if you will meet her," she asked sheepishly.

"The one whose magazine you stole?" Ryura asked with a grin in her direction. Kagome blushed fiercely, but nodded all the same.

"Sure, why not?" he answered with a one shoulder shrug.

He could Eri squeal with excitement from where he stood. Kagome cringed and started talking to her softly, asking where she wanted to meet them.

"An... amusement park? Eri, you can't be serious," Kagome said dryly.

_"Why not?"_ Eri asked in return. _"You do know your boyfriend just doesn't build houses but he designs roller coasters too, don't you?"_

"Of course I did!" Kagome lied.

"You design roller coasters?" she mouthed at Ryura. The Dragon grinned again and nodded, and Kagome rolled her eyes.

_"I'll see you at Yomiuriland at seven!"_ Eri chirped before hanging up.

Kagome stared down at the phone. "Doesn't anyone say goodbye anymore?" she grumbled.

"Two hours, eh?" Ryura asked, having heard the last part of the conversation.

"Where you going?" Souta asked.

"An amusement park," Kagome answered.

Souta's face lit up and he bounced around on the couch, "Can I go, mom? Please? I'll do anything you want me to!"

"You'll have to ask your sister," Hitomi said with a chuckle.

"Can he, Kagome?" Ryura said right after. Together both he and Souta turned big, wet puppy eyes on the Miko.

Kagome didn't stand a chance. She groaned and nodded, and Souta ran away whooping up the stairs to get ready. She wasn't going to say no in the first place, but the puppy eyes had sealed the deal.

"I'll return shortly," Ryura said once Souta was up the stairs.

"Huh?" Kagome blurted out. "Where?"

"I want to change," he admitted. "Being in a suit on a roller coaster isn't something I particularly enjoy, you know. I do have to test the roller coasters I design. This isn't going to be my first party!"

"Oh," Kagome said as she blushed again and looked away.

Ryura walked over to her and brushed his lips across her forehead, "Don't worry. I'll be back soon, I promise."

Hitomi watched with a small smile as Ryura said his temporary goodbyes to Kagome. She sighed whimsically and hummed as she walked into the kitchen to prepare dinner for when everyone returned.

Kagome moved slowly up the stairs, thinking on everything. She had wanted Souta to go with her, because she knew by Ryura's earlier actions this was the last time she was going to see her little brother. Kagome wanted his last memory of her to be a happy one. When she came home, she was going to spend as much time with her family as possible, especially her mother. For now she would put on a smile and face whatever was going to happen later. Her time was short, and she didn't want to waste it.

She decided to wear comfortable clothing befitting of a chilly night. Autumn had set in and the nights had become colder. If she was going to be on roller coasters and Ferris Wheels she didn't want to freeze to death. Save that joy for Naraku or Magatsuhi, she thought bitterly.

Kagome ended up dressing in a pair of tight, but comfortable, light blue jeans and a white tank top. Over it she wore a cherry red sweater that was loose on her body. She tossed her hair into a high tail, washed her face, and after grabbing a pair of ankle-length flat brown boots, she trotted down the stairs.

She sat at the entrance to her home to put on her boots, only to head outside after yelling for Souta to hurry up and telling him where she'd be.

As Kagome looked up into the night sky, she fingered the small purse that held only her wallet, a brush, and an extra hair band. The purse's color matched her boots and the strap was meant to cross over her chest. She didn't want it flying away on a roller coaster, after all.

She thought over her life and the people she had met. Inuyasha, Miroku, Sango, Shippou, Sesshoumaru, Kaede, Kikyou... no one was left out. Kagome thought the longest on Ryura and found she was pleased that he was able to find happiness in his life, and that he decided to spend her last night with her, even if they were going to be with Eri and possibly the rest of her friends.

Kagome really didn't mind. All of her friends were important to her, and she wanted each of them to have happy memories when they thought of her. Eri would be able to meet someone she looked up to highly as an aspiring architect. Kagome wouldn't deny her that.

"Kagome?" Ryura's voice snapped her out of her thoughts and she looked to him with a small smile.

"You look good," she said after looking him over. He wore loose-fitting jeans that hugged his hips and a long-sleeved black shirt. Again the first two buttons were left undone.

"As do you," he responded as he came to stand beside her. Ryura's hand found hers and he held it tightly, stroking her palm with his thumb.

She felt the prickling of his claws and looked down. Ryura had allowed his claws of the hand holding hers to show, unafraid someone would see them. He traced random patterns over her palm with a claw and Kagome shivered.

Ryura noticed the shiver and grinned faintly before turning his eyes to look up at the sky.

"You used to be able to see the stars so well from this exact spot," he said.

"I was thinking the same thing," Kagome said with a light laugh.

"Okay!" Souta flew from the house. "I'm ready!"

Hitomi and Daisuke followed after him, albeit much slower.

"Don't keep him out too late, Kagome. He has school in the morning," her mother warned.

"Yes, mama. I won't."

Souta whined, but it went ignored. Why couldn't he just have one day past his curfew?

Ryura tugged on Kagome's hand lightly and tilted his head towards the Shrine's entrance. "We should go, ne?"

"Bye guys!" Souta called out before he bolted for the stairs.

"Have fun!" Hitomi called out to their retreating forms. "Don't let Eri hog him all night, Kagome!"

Ryura laughed and Kagome shook her head. Leave it to her mother to embarrass the living daylights out of her.

Her embarrassment left her as she and Ryura descended the long staircase. Ahead of them Souta was hopping from stair to stair, slowing himself down on purpose to let the other two catch up. After all, he had _no _idea which amusement park they were going to, or how they were going to get there.

When Souta's eyes landed on a car that almost screamed Ryura, his eyes almost fell out of his head. The car, one of the newest Corvettes that had only been released to the public in the last month, was colored in the same colors both Ryura and Kagome had worn, which were explained to Souta to be the House of Storms' colors. Black was the main color and silver and navy blue etched along the body of the car as accents.

"Oh... my God," Souta stuttered out. "You can't be serious!"

"Serious as the plague," Ryura said from behind him. "I thought you would like this one, Souta."

"_This _one? How many cars do you have!?" Souta excitedly yelled, only glancing back at the Dragon Daiyoukai.

"I have been alive for many, many years. Without youkai wars and bloody battles, cars have become a hobby of mine," Ryura admitted as he tugged the shocked Kagome closer to the road.

With his free hand, once he was close enough, he opened the passenger side door and pulled down the seat, jerking his head for Souta to get in. The boy whooped and almost literally dove into the back of the car. When he was situated, Ryura raised the seat and helped Kagome inside, closing the door behind her with a soft click.

Both Higurashi siblings watched him walk in front of the car and open the driver side door, sliding in. Kagome, however, could only watch with wide, shocked eyes as he started the car. It purred to life under his touch, its engine roaring as Ryura stepped on the gas while the car was still in park to rev it up, watching in the rear view mirror for Souta's reaction.

Ryura, laughing loudly, had never seen Souta look as happy and exicted at the same time. To say the least, Ryura was pleased with Souta's reaction. He looked to his side at Kagome and raised a brow.

"What?" he asked.

Kagome's mouth opened and closed like a fish before she finally said, "...you're driving. You."

"And?" he asked as he shifted the car into drive and pulled out into the road. It was a manual, so he had to keep his hand on the stick-shift.

"I just saw you this morning wearing armor and carrying two giant swords around on your back, not having an idea what a car even _is_. Can't you imagine how weird this looks!?" Kagome exclaimed.

"I think it's awesome!" Souta threw in from the back.

Ryura half smirked. "You'll get used to it."

When Ryura got to the point he didn't need to shift immediately he reached out and took Kagome's hand, bringing it to set atop the stick-shift, where he placed his hand over hers. Their fingers wove together again and as they drove, Kagome could easily feel every movement he made when he needed to shift the car's gears. His grip was strong on her hand, needing it so he could make _her _move the stick-shift.

Behind them, Souta chattered away, asking Ryura what he did for a living and what type of cars he owned. Ryura, glancing to look at the boy in the mirror whenever he had the chance, answered honestly.

"I've done everything from architecture to being a poor artist and back again. I think this is the twentieth time I've been an architect," he said. "When you live for this long and have to fake your death every couple dozen years, you get bored easily and learn how the world really works early on. As for cars? It would be easier to name what I don't own than what I do own."

"Can I see them?" Souta asked, looking at Ryura's reflection.

"If your mother allows it," the Dragon replied with a grin.

Kagome remained silent the entire trip, something Ryura didn't miss. He didn't push her, however, knowing what was on her mind. For that, he couldn't blame her. He only tightened his hand around hers and gently traced his claws over her fingers as a silent comfort.

They made it to the amusement park and eventually found a place to park Ryura's car at. For some reason the amusement park was overly packed that night for reasons unknown. Possibly because of the arrival of fall, or that it was the last day the water side of the park was going to be open, meaning it would be open later than it normally would be.

Eri found Kagome fairly easily, having had years of practice spotting friends from long distances. She eyed Kagome and Ryura's entwined hands with a wide grin, then happily said hello to Souta.

"Everyone's waiting inside!" Eri said after the awkward introductions. She had almost fainted when it was time to actually speak to Ryura. Kagome got a good laugh out of that.

The four headed into the park, and Ryura all but demanded he buy the other three's tickets. Kagome gave up, defeated after a small argument. He _had _the money to buy the entire damn park if he wanted to. It was either she let him get her and her friends in this way, or he was going to go and buy the whole thing now and get them in that way. It was up to her.

If he wanted to spoil her, she wasn't going to offend him by not allowing him to buy the tickets. She wasn't going to be alive much longer, anyway. Might as well let Ryura do what he wanted. He was the one who was going to have to experience her death _twice_. Once being the past, and once in the future, knowing she had yet again died.

Within an hour of being inside the park and after riding at least six different roller coasters, a snow flake fell on Kagome's nose. She turned her blue eyes to look up and she smiled brightly as the snow continued to fall faster with each moment that passed. It was the first snow of the year, and at such a rare time, too. She felt blessed that she was able to see the snow fall this early in the fall season before her death came to greet her.

"It's so beautiful!" she said to Ryura next to her.

The Dragon Daiyoukai of the future looked down at her and smiled softly. He pulled her against his side and wrapped his arm over her shoulder. "It is, isn't it?" he said once he too looked to the sky.

"Kagome, come on! There's one of those weird swing things you like!" Yuka, Kagome's other friend, called out. She ran up and grabbed Kagome's hand, tugging both her and Ryura away.

Kagome laughed and Ryura chuckled as they followed her and the rest of Kagome's friends along with Souta.

By the time they returned to Kagome's home, Souta was asleep. Kagome helped Ryura settle Souta on his back with the boy's arms draped over Ryura's shoulders, hanging limply on his chest. Carrying Souta up the stairs wasn't an issue for Ryura.

Hitomi met them just inside the main entrance to the house and with her help, Ryura changed Souta out of his clothing into his pajamas and had the boy tucked into bed. Kagome entered his room once they were finished and sat beside Souta on his bed. She raised her left hand and gently brushed her young brother's bangs from his forehead, a sad smile on her face the entire time.

Ryura stood at the doorway, watching carefully until Kagome leaned over and kissed Souta's forehead then stood to leave his room. The Dragon backed up slightly to allow Kagome to pass, then closed the door slowly behind her.

"You're sure he won't be hungry?" Hitomi asked when Kagome and Ryura appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

Kagome laughed. "Trust me, mom. He pigged out at the park. He'll be fine."

"How about you? Are you hungry?" Hitomi asked and Kagome nodded. "Wonderful! I'll heat up the food!"

Ryura's cellphone vibrated in his pocket and he excused himself to answer with a frown on his face. He specifically remembered telling anyone and everyone to _not _disturb him today unless someone was one death's door.

Kagome watched him go then sat herself down beside her grandfather. Daisuke looked to her, surprised when she laid her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his.

"Something wrong?" he asked her quietly.

"No, not really. I just missed you," Kagome said with a tone that matched his.

His aged and withered hand came to rest on one of Kagome's and he patted it softly. "Well, if something is wrong, everything will be fine. You're just like your father, and you have a lot of your mother in you, too. You'll figure it out."

Her eyes burned at the sudden tears that sprang up. She turned her head and buried her face into her grandfather's white haori and silently cried against him. Daisuke didn't say anything about it, however. He only smiled softly and held Kagome's hand, leaning his head down to rest on her own.

Kagome cried, knowing this would be the last time she ever saw her grandfather. It would be the last time she ever saw his smiling face, last time she ever heard his voice, last time she ever smelled his natural scent.

She felt herself being transferred to a different set of arms, and she heard her grandfather say, "Take care of her, boy."

Kagome mentally followed her grandfather's aura into the kitchen where it joined her mother's and she took the chance to imprint their auras to memory. Even in death she would never forget them. The aura that had now surrounded her, however, was that of Ryura's.

Slowly she opened her eyes and looked up at him, only to see him looking back at her with worry. His human guise left him, leaving behind the appearance Kagome knew so well, and she couldn't stop her tears from starting over and starting at the beginning again. His hair was blue, eyes were red, and his markings were showing.

"What is it?" he asked, and Kagome could see his fangs as he spoke.

"You know what," she said over the lump in her throat.

Ryura smiled sadly and ran his now clawed hand through her hair. "I suppose I do."

Kagome rose up slightly only to crawl into his lap. Ryura's arms wrapped around her to steady her and he lulled his head to the side to give her room as she tucked her own ahead in the crook of his neck. Kagome gripped his hips with her thighs and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. It was an extremely compromising position for the both of them, and Kagome didn't think as far as what if her mother should see her like this.

"I am not going to leave you, Kagome. Not yet," he said softly into her hair as he breathed in her scent. "I will stay with you until the morning, and the me of the past will show up, and only when I feel my own youki will _I _leave you. You will stay at my side, no matter what happens."

Even though his words were confusing, Kagome understood what he meant. Whether it be this Ryura of her era, or the Ryura of the Feudal Era, he would stay with her. It gave her comfort, knowing she wasn't going to be alone when she died.

As they sat together, Ryura began to hum. His chest vibrated hers and she let herself fall into the sound of his deep, rhythmic humming. Ryura reached up and pulled her hair from its tail, watching with his head still tilted to the side as her long black locks spilled around their joined bodies, covering them like a blanket. He ran a hand through it, all the while he continued to hum.

They stayed in that position until Hitomi came out of the kitchen. She squealed at seeing her daughter straddling Ryura, but she was quickly pulled back into the kitchen by Daisuke.

"Just let them be for now, Hitomi. Something's wrong with Kagome," he said.

"What?" Hitomi asked once the shock wore off. "What's wrong?"

"I'm unsure, but it's only something Ryura can fix," Daisuke said, his voice one of worry.

They were interrupted from speaking further when Kagome and Ryura entered the kitchen. Kagome was blushing brightly and rubbing at her still wet eyes, and Ryura looked like nothing happened at all. It was a far cry from the Ryura of the past who had been embarrassed by simply kissing Kagome or hugging her.

The four ate dinner together, the mood greatly lightening up as Daisuke went into a particular embarrassing story about when his son and daughter-in-law had first moved in to help him with the Shrine's upkeep. At the end, Hitomi was left an embarrassed mess and Kagome was laughing her head off.

Stories were exchanged back and forth, ones from Ryura mostly consisting of things Kagome had been around for in the past. Once dinner was finished and dishes cleaned, Hitomi and Daisuke excused themselves, wanting to head to bed.

Ryura and Kagome followed suit, each taking a shower one after the other. While Kagome was taking hers, Ryura bolted out to his car and grabbed a long bag from the trunk and was back inside without Kagome knowing what he did. He pulled out clothing then kicked the bag under Kagome's bed right as she opened the door and announced the shower was free.

As Ryura took his shower, Kagome towel dried her hair. Something was off. She could feel a deep thrum coming from under her bed. When Kagome was finally annoyed enough she dropped to her knees and looked under said bed. A long, black bag she had never seen before was soon pulled out and unzipped.

Two gleaming swords stared back at her, pulsing in greeting. It was Raijing and Fujinga.

Kagome laughed happily and lightly touched the hilts of the swords. "I bet you two missed me!"

She was somehow able to have almost a conversation with the swords. Kagome would ask a question, asking if Ryura had taken care of them or things of that nature, and they would respond with either a single pulse for a positive answer or two pulses for a negative answer.

"I still use them every day," Ryura said behind her. "They become extremely annoying if I don't."

Kagome looked over her shoulder and her eyes widened. His short blue hair was plastered to his head and still dripping slightly. The rivulets of water landed on his shoulders and back, running down the bare skin until they met with pair of black pajama pants, which was the only thing he was wearing.

Ryura waved a brush in her face and Kagome squeaked, but then grinned when she realized what he was wanting. She hopped on to her bed and bounced slightly as Ryura laughed and sat down in front of her on the floor.

While his hair was much, _much _shorter, he was still allowing Kagome to care for it. As Kagome brushed through his hair until it was dry with both her fingers and the brush, Ryura fished around the black bag until he pulled out a book.

He stood when Kagome was finished and shooed her off the bed, turning down her sheets and comforter once she was completely off of it. With the book still in his hand he crawled in her bed, covering up his legs, then pulled her in with him. Ryura tucked her against his side in the same place she had woken up in against Ryura of the past only a short half week before hand.

Kagome didn't protest. She was going to take all she could get now.

Laying against his side with her head resting on his shoulder, Kagome listened as Ryura began to read. He was reading the same book Kagome had first given him. It was the book of poems. She listened to him, felt him against her, felt his body rumble as he spoke, and almost turned to goo as his hand ran through her hair, until she finally fell asleep.

When Ryura was sure Kagome was asleep he closed the book, transferred it to his other hand and laid it on her bedside table, turning out the light as he did so. He laid in the dark, listening to the sounds of her breathing, wide awake as time passed by.

The sun began to rise and Ryura carefully pried Kagome off his body and crawled over her until he was standing on the floor. He sat down at her desk and opened one of her notebooks, grabbing a pen as he went, and then, he began to write. Once he was finished he left the notebook where she would be able to find it, and went about dressing and replacing his human disguise.

Ryura left her room after kissing Kagome gently on the forehead. He exited the house, and as he walked down the stairs of the Shrine, he pulled out the cellphone from his pocket. He brought it to life by simply sliding a finger across the screen and pressed a single button on it. As he put it to his ear he heard the ringing begin and he waited patiently for the other person to pick up.

"Hello?" came a groggy voice over the phone.

"Inuyasha?" Ryura asked. He received a grunt in return. "I'm just leaving Kagome's house. It's time."

After a bout of cussing including if Ryura had any "fucking idea what time it was," the line went dead shortly after and Ryura let out a small chuckle. He replaced the cellphone in his pocket and unlocked his car.

He as gone before Kagome woke up.

* * *

Kagome was woken by a slight shaking of her shoulder and her voice being said softly. She groaned and slowly opened her eyes to look into the concerned red orbs of Ryura.

"G'morning," she mumbled.

His hair tickled her face as Ryura leaned down and sniffed her. Kagome then noticed his hair was long and he was wearing armor. This Ryura was the one from the past.

"I don't want to sound rude or anything, but why in the hell do you smell so much like me?" Ryura asked, confused.

Kagome only looked at him just as confused as he appeared to be, then she shot out of bed and started looking around the room. The long bag that held Raijinga and Fujinga were gone, except the swords were on _this _Ryura's back, five hundred years younger the lot of them. Kagome stumbled slightly and Ryura grabbed her bicep.

"Kagome? What's going on?" he asked, concerned.

"Y-you... You were here."

"What? I just got here!" he exclaimed.

"No! I mean you of _this _era!" Kagome said. She took one look around and noticed a notebook was open with writing on one of the pages in the form of a letter.

Kagome reached out and grabbed the notebook, eyes scanning over the page. Behind her, still confused, Ryura began to read as well.

_Kagome,_

_By now you should have woken up to find me missing, only to be replaced by the five hundred years younger me. Confusing, isn't it? I did promise I wasn't going to leave you, no matter what happened. I barely managed to get out of bed before I felt my own youki pouring from the well-house – get that shit together, Ryura! Every youkai within a seven hundred mile radius has called me asking why in the world I'm releasing so much youki when we're supposed to be hidden since you found out you could pass through the well! If you weren't me, I'd kick your ass for all the headaches you've caused me!_

_Take care of her, Ryura. I shouldn't have to warn myself of the dangers she will be facing today._

_Ryura Kumori_

Both Kagome and Ryura stared at the letter for a moment, looked to each other, then read over it again.

"Whaaaat the hell?" Ryura asked.

Kagome had to explain after that, omitting the part of her dying, of course. She didn't want Ryura to put himself in any danger by trying to protect her when she was meant to die. It took Ryura a moment to adjust to it, and he had to beat down the jealously he felt over _himself _being that close to Kagome. It just didn't make sense to him, but he couldn't help it!

Ryura wrapped his arms possessively around Kagome then and hugged her tightly against him. He was trying to replace his own scent, for Kami's sake!

Kagome couldn't control herself. She started laughing hysterically. Ryura just grumbled.

Kagome stared into the face of Naraku. His true form had been revealed and it looked like the last fight was to happen over top Kaede's village. The form was growing closer with each passing second and Kagome had to chomp down on how nervous she was. Ryura was with her, it would be okay.

But then again it wasn't going to be okay. She was going to die.

Well, she wasn't going down without one hell of a fight, Kagome thought to herself as she gave a deteremined nod.

Breaking into the true form of Naraku had been a trip through Hell and back again. Every one of them were drenched in spider goop from their head to their toes, and none of them liked it.

The cavern of Naraku's body was dark, dark enough the youkai had to lead the way. Tsuyoshi held a ball of glowing ice out in front of him, acting as a lantern to light their path. Ryura took up the back of the group, eyes scanning back and forth.

Inuyasha was the first to be separated from the group. Naraku had shown him an illusion of Kikyou being alive once more and in Naraku's grasp. He disappeared into the darkness with a yell that was the deceased Miko's name.

Sango fell next, having an illusion of her family still alive and happy shoved in her face. Shortly after Miroku followed. His illusion was one his Wind Tunnel ripping open and it was attempting to suck Sango and Kohaku into it.

Sesshoumaru didn't fall for his illusion, for it was beyond stupid. The illusion he was faced with was of his father handing him both Tessaiga and Sou'unga, the sword of Hell before his father's death. Sesshoumaru had Bakusaiga now, and apparently Naraku failed to realize Sesshoumaru held no desire for either sword. Sou'unga was in its rightful place in Hell, trapped away forever, and Tessaiga now truly belonged to Inuyasha.

Kagome wasn't very impressed with her illusion, either. It had been of herself and Inuyasha smiling happily as they looked down to a small child roughly about two years of age. The child's hair was black as Kagome's, but all other features screamed Inuyasha. It was their child. The whole illusion just felt so _wrong _to Kagome.

Now, if Naraku had been paying enough attention, he would have made Ryura be in her illusion and the child a product of herself and the Dragon Daiyoukai. Kagome may have just fallen for that.

Ryura and Tsuyoshi luckily weren't plagued with illusions. It appeared to them that Naraku had set this visions up some time ago, before Tsuyoshi and Ryura joined up with Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru's packs to fight against him. It made them realize that Naraku had started to panic, and his plans were haphazardly thrown together. He knew his death was fast approaching.

Sesshoumaru, Tsuyoshi, Ryura, and Kagome trudged their way further into Naraku's body until Sesshoumaru quickly shot forward.

Rin had screamed for him in the distance and he _knew _that was no illusion.

"Rin!" Kagome yelled out with worry. She tried to follow Sesshoumaru, but was stopped by Ryura.

"No, Kagome!" he said, "It's a trap!"

"A trap for Sesshoumaru!" she retorted.

"What did I say about having faith?" Ryura asked with a frown. Kagome then reluctantly agreed. If Sesshoumaru needed their help, he would find a way to let them know.

Tsuyoshi led the last of those who remained with his spear clutched tightly in his hand, prepared to strike at any moment. What trials was Naraku going to throw at them?

The three stepped into a large cavern after possibly an hour of walking that was as tall as it was deep, which was extremely deep. Tsuyoshi tossed down the ball of glowing ice into the pit and watched as it fell. None of them heard it crash.

"Up?" Ryura asked, and Tsuyoshi nodded.

Considering both of Ryura's hands were tied up by his swords, Tsuyoshi took over carrying Kagome. He wrapped an arm around her waist and held her against him, taking off with one powerful leap. As they ascended, Kagome felt the darkened power of the Shikon no Tama and scurried on to Tsuyoshi's back. The water Dragon helped her situated herself and behind him he could feel Kagome draw an arrow, waiting.

Ryura flew along beside the two, his face stoic as he prepared himself to fight.

Ahead of them, they saw Inuyasha standing toe to toe with Naraku with Magatsuhi's ethereal face floating directly behind Naraku.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome called out as she loosed her arrow.

Inuyasha ducked to the side, knowing that call when he heard it. Naraku's eyes widened and he threw a barrier up, only to have Kagome's arrow disappear and reappear with a blink behind his barrier. The blue glowing arrow obliterated his left shoulder and he growled.

"Enough of this!" Naraku hissed.

Ryura was in his face before he could fully disappear, with Tsuyoshi following after. Their weapons crackled with youki as they stabbed them into either of Naraku's sides. Naraku howled in pain, his eyes wide and terrified as Inuyasha and Kagome, who had been safely deposited on a cliff, prepared their own attacks.

"We're going to need everything for this!" Kagome yelled as she charged her arrow with the bright flame-like reiki.

"Agreed!" Inuyasha responded loudly.

"Then you shall have it, Kagome." Sesshoumaru said as he shot out from a cave above them. Rin was clinging to his pelt next to Jaken. The gami looked terrified, but he held his staff out and in the mouth of one of the two heads rested a flame.

Sango and Miroku, both atop Kirara with Shippou clinging on for dear life, followed. "Right!" Sango yelled.

Shippou had apparently shown up, going against everyone's wishes, and brought himself and Rin right into the fray.

Together, each of them aimed for both Naraku and Magatsuhi, who was tied to the Shikon no Tama Naraku still held in his chest. Simultaneously they released their attacks and watched as all the energies, all the weapons soared for the two beings who were evil incarnate.

The timing was perfect. Everything came together at once. Everyone's arrival combined with each of them pouring all their feelings; all their hate and anger, all their sorrow, everything into their attacks.

The backlash from the combining energies was enough to rock everyone from what perches they were standing on, unless they were lucky enough to have been in the air.

Ryura ran and jumped off the cliff he had stood on, having moved away with Tsuyoshi in time to release their own attacks on Naraku. He sailed for Kagome and scooped her up before she fell off her own perch. Ryura tucked and spun in the air, taking Kagome with him, and flew for towards the other side of the large cavern everyone was now in.

As Naraku's body began to crumble, Inuyasha ripped a hole through the cave-like area they were in, and one at a time, the band exited. Ryura was the last to leave, and after what happened, he wished he had been the first.

Kagome was grabbed by a pair of hands made of flesh and ripped straight from Ryura's arms. Her longbow was knocked from her grip as another flesh-hand appeared. Even as the flesh-eating attack of Sesshoumaru was destroying his body, Naraku was still fighting. He was planning on taking Kagome with him. He was going to _crush_ the hearts of the ones who had defeated them by taking away the woman who meant so much to all of them.

No one could reach her fast enough. Each were engaged in their own battles with sudden manifestations of Naraku that swarmed around them.

"_Kagome!"_ Ryura yelled. Her name ripped from his throat loud enough it began to bleed.

Inuyasha spun around and hopped from one floating dead fake body of Naraku to the next, his eyes trained on Kagome's form trapped against the slowly falling true form of the spider-hanyou. At the same time Ryura tore apart one fake after another, trying as hard as he could to get to her.

None of them could stop what was happening. They could only watch with horror as one of the flesh hands turned into a long, dangerous spike and drove home through Kagome's chest, directly through her heart.

Kagome let out a gurgled gasp of shock and pain. Blood flew from her lips and she jerked forward with the sheer force the spike had dug into her with. She could feel it protruding from her back, and slowly she looked down to see her white haori bleed red.

Naraku kept up the attack, fully intending on keeping Kagome with him until her soul was gone to the point not even Sesshoumaru would be able to bring her back with Tenseiga.

Ryura, however, wouldn't stand for it. He ripped away the barriers put in place to keep his humanoid form and shot towards Kagome in a streak of white. When Ryura landed, the white disappeared to show his true form - the giant, winged blue dragon. His long, sword like claws dug into Naraku's body, keeping him attached to the side of it.

His massive head fell back and he _roared _his anger, then it lunged forward and began to tear at Naraku's body. Piece after piece fell away until nothing was left to hold Kagome up. She fell towards the earth and it was only then Ryura let go. His body twisted as he fell, wings tucked tightly against himself.

Ryura dove for Kagome's now lifeless body and when he reached it, he took her small form in one giant claw-like hand and his wings unfurled from his body. The wings stretched out and heaved, keeping Ryura aloft in the air.

Red eyes looked down to Kagome, taking in her appearance, and Ryura let out the most sorrowful whine. The Miko lay dead in his hand, and because of that single sound he admitted, anyone with ears could tell the same. Kagome was gone.

In the future, Ryura sat in a large, comfortable looking chair in the darkness of his home. His human disguise was missing, allowing any who might have seen him to freely see his real form. Thankfully, however, he was alone. As the sun set at a certain point in the side, Ryura's face contorted.

He leaned forward, rested his elbows on his knees, and buried his face in his hands. His fingers gripped at his blue bangs as his shoulders shook.

Five hundred years ago to the second, Kagome had died in those same hands.

Ryura was still for a few minutes until he rose to his feet and staggered his way to the door of the room he was in. He needed to go. He had to go back to the Shrine. He _needed _to see her family. He wanted to sit in her room and inhale her scent.

Blue eyes watched as Ryura stumbled down a hall in his home. It was Tsuyoshi. The water Dragon couldn't keep the frown off his face. For some reason unknown to all of them, Ryura had suddenly forgot everything that happened in the past beside Kagome's death and what came before it – it was like every memory after that just ceased to exist for Ryura. Right now Ryura was reliving Kagome's death all over again.

Ryura had been fine one moment, then the next he was a complete mess to the point he couldn't contain his youki anymore. It had flared wildly around him and within the span of a few moments every phone and cellphone in the house was ringing.

* * *

A.N.: Like I said, everything has a purpose!


	25. Chapter 25: Life and Reunions

Chapter 25:

Life and Reunions

"When we die, we will turn into songs, and we will hear each other and remember each other."  
― Rob Sheffield, _Love is a Mix Tape _

Prompt: I'm Coming Home (Part 2) by Skylar Grey and The Nexus by Amaranthe

* * *

As Ryura reached the ground, still within his true form, the body of Naraku finally was taken over by Bakusaiga's attack and was gone. He landed heavily on three legs, since one was still holding Kagome's body.

Around him the others came to rest beside him. Ryura gently laid Kagome out on the grass and then rebuilt the barriers to pull back in his youki and retake his humanoid form. When he reappeared, he was kneeling. Ryura's clothing was disheveled and his hair was unbound, but he didn't seem bothered by it. His eyes were focused on Kagome's corpse.

"Sesshoumaru," he ground out after swallowing the lump in his throat.

Ryura looked over his shoulder, his eyes misting over. He silently pleaded with the Inu Daiyoukai to save Kagome by looking at Tenseiga. Thankfully Sesshoumaru had brought it along, accepting that the sword had reforged itself to stay at his side.

Sesshoumaru nodded faintly and Sango cried out, praying to whatever Kami was listening that Tenseiga would work. Inuyasha stared on, looking dead to the world. The light had left his eyes and he looked hollow.

Everyone was grieving in their own ways, even as Sesshoumaru quickly moved to stand above Kagome's body. He placed his hand on Tenseiga and poured his emotions into it, allowing it to feel just how badly he wanted to save Kagome.

Tenseiga gave a pulse for a response.

The Inu Daiyoukai quickly pulled Tenseiga from its sheath and slowly the Reapers from the Underworld were revealed to Sesshoumaru's eyes. He growled, furious that they would try to take Kagome's soul, and sliced through them with more force than what was required.

He and Ryura watched as the wound that had led to Kagome's chest knit together. Her chest began to rise and fall, and when her eyes fluttered open, she found herself being pushed quickly against Ryura. Kagome didn't really mind it. She was so _cold. _Ryura clung tightly to her and buried his face into her hair, his eyes shutting tightly.

"Thank you_," _Kagome managed to whisper when she found her voice.

Sesshoumaru nodded to her and spun away on his heel, only to slowly turn around when he felt the energy of the Meidou being ripped open. Naraku's last surviving incarnation, Byakuya, appeared out of the portal that led to the Underworld. In his hand rested a sword that carried the appearance of the Meidou.

Byakuya swiftly brought the sword down across Kagome's back, only to receive a Meidou blade to the face from a enraged Inuyasha.

"Not. Again!" Inuyasha yelled.

Byakuya smirked faintly before he died, accepting his death. After all, he'd just attacked Kagome after she was returned to life. He knew he was going to die. Only thing he wondered was who was going to kill him. Inuyasha was the answer.

Kagome and Ryura looked up, blinking at Inuyasha's snarl. Ryura spotted Byakuya disappearing and the Meidou portal slowly closing. He frantically began to check over Kagome after the last incarnation of Naraku died. When Ryura found no wounds he sighed and dropped his head to rest on Kagome's shoulder.

That is until another Meidou appeared behind Kagome and Naraku's head along with the Shikon no Tama, an arrow piercing the now brightly glowing pink jewel. Tendrils of dark energy reached out and wrapped around Kagome, ripping her away from Ryura.

Ryura tried to grab her, cursing his luck of having the Miko ripped from him _again_, and he was too late. The Meidou sucked Kagome in, leaving behind an extremely shocked group of people.

"Ryura!" Inuyasha suddenly yelled.

The Dragon Daiyoukai blinked quickly and looked over to Inuyasha. Tessaiga was still glowing with the power of the Meidou and suddenly Ryura understood.

"Do it! Now!" he rumbled loudly.

Inuyasha gave a nod and cut through the air, opening up a portal. Ryura didn't waste any time jumping into it.

"Inuyasha, no!" Sango yelled. "He's jumping to his death!"

"He's not!" Inuyasha said as he watched the Meidou disappear. "He's going after Kagome! Do you honestly think the Shikon no Tama is going to let her live after this? We _killed _one of it's main hosts! The evil inside of it won't allow her to live!"

Realizing Inuyasha was right, they all settled and waited with bated breath. At the same time they offered prayers to protect Kagome and Ryura and to bring them back safely.

* * *

Kagome sat up and rubbed her head. What just happened? It felt like she was hit by a truck.

Groaning, the young woman sat up in her bed and glanced at her clock. It was so late, too! Good thing today was Saturday, else Kagome would've just missed school, and she hated doing that.

Kagome stretched and yawned before climbing out of her bed. As she readied herself for the day, she couldn't rid herself of the feeling that something was missing. It was because of that she went around her room and house, looking for anything out of place. Finding nothing she could only shrug and scratch her head, figuring she just had a really weird dream she couldn't remember.

She left the house once she was dressed, a piece of toast hanging out of her mouth, despite having already brushed her teeth. Kagome was supposed to meet Eri soon, and she sort of woke up a little bit late. It was eat a piece of toast on the way, or not eat at all.

Kagome hurried to catch the bus, finishing her toast as she went. After she dusted off her hands, Kagome pulled from her purse a brochure Eri had given her a few days ago. She opened it up and read over it to pass the time.

Eri had managed to wrangle Kagome into coming to a seminar with her. There was a guest speaker that Eri absolutely adored, and she wasn't about to miss this. However, there had been perverts preying on young women around their age roughly about the time this seminar was to end. Kagome, worried for her friend, decided to accompany her.

It wouldn't hurt anything, anyway. Eri was planning on going to university for architectural engineering after high school. The guest speaker was the sole reason Eri was going. It was a man who was highly prized as one of the world's best architectures, and Kagome knew Eri worshiped the man like a God. It wasn't a creepy, "I love someone I've never met just because they're famous" worship. It was more of a respectful worship towards someone held high in the eyes of a particular field.

Kagome's eyes landed on the name of the guest speaker. Ryura Kumori. The name sent bells ringing her head. Of course she would recognize it. Eri talked about the man quite a bit. But there was something else. Again, Kagome was plagued by the feeling that something was missing.

* * *

"Kagome!" Ryura yelled into the darkness.

He was trapped in a void but this time there was no firefly-like lights to guide his way. It was complete and total darkness. His worry for Kagome overrode his own fears of voids at that moment, however.

Ryura called her name again and when he received no response he pushed forward. He stopped when he felt Touga's energy leak into existence. Ryura looked in the direction he felt the energy coming from and watched as the Kami took form.

"Ryura," he said. "I will accompany you."

Ryura grinned and nodded. Together the two made their way what they felt was forward. As they moved, Touga's coloring change. His hair turned black and his eyes became blue, even his skin darkened slightly. Now he looked like Kagome's father, Hikaru, even if he was still dressed like Touga.

"I cannot act directly against the Shikon no Tama – no Kami can. However, I can show you the way, else you would be lost here for eternity," Touga rumbled thoughtfully.

"That's not unsettling at all," Ryura replied sarcastically.

"Indeed," Touga said. "Come. We do not have much time."

* * *

Eri had all but pushed Kagome to the front of the auditorium and now they were sitting in the front row, directly facing where the guest speaker, Ryura Kumori, would be standing. The seats around them slowly began to fill and eventually the lights slightly dimmed to a comfortable level instead of the blinding light they had been before.

A tall man, extremely tall for a Japanese man, walked out from the side some time later and gave those watching him a polite bow before moving to the podium in the middle of the stage. He was dressed suitably for the occasion in a silky-looking black suit with a navy blue shirt and black tie that carried streaks of thin silver through it.

Kagome swore she had seen that very same outfit somewhere before, but she couldn't remember where.

As the man began to speak, Kagome could do nothing but stare at him. Where had she heard his voice before? Now she knew Eri had never shown her a video of the man, because this was the first time he had ever spoken publicly.

Ryura Kumori's green eyes came to rest on Kagome and his words died on his lips. He stared at her for a very, very long moment, to the shock of everyone else in the room.

"K-kagome?" he asked.

Kagome's mind shattered like a mirror.

* * *

"Kagome!" Ryura yelled as he shook her. He found her floating in the darkness along with the Shikon no Tama and Naraku's head.

"She will not respond to you, youkai. It is best to give up now," an ethereal voice said.

"Shut up!" Ryura snapped as he shook Kagome one more time. "Kagome!"

Ryura felt the energy around them shift and he stared expectantly at Kagome. Touga, beside him, stared just as hard with his still blue eyes only to look directly into eyes that matched his own as they opened slowly.

"Daddy?" Kagome asked. She looked around carefully then asked, "Ryura?"

"I'm here," Ryura answered.

"What!?" the ethereal voice yelled. "This is not possible!"

Touga sighed in relief and placed a hand on Kagome's forehead to smooth back her bangs. He smiled at her when Kagome looked to him again.

"We're both here," he said then.

Ryura nodded and pulled Kagome up until she was standing. With Ryura to one side, an arm wrapped around her waist to keep her steady, and Touga to the other, Kagome looked directly at the Shikon no Tama and Naraku.

"I have a question, Naraku," she said with a firm voice.

Naraku's red eyes opened and he gazed wearily at her. "What is it, Miko?"

"The Shikon no Tama didn't grant your true wish, did it?" she asked.

"It did not," Naraku admitted. "My true wish was to have Kikyou's heart."

Around her waist she could feel Ryura's grip tighten. Touga's hand was on her shoulder shortly after, squeezing it reassuringly.

The ethereal voice rang out again, "Enough of that. It is time, Miko of the Shikon no Tama. You must make your wish, lest you and those with you will be trapped forever within the Shikon no Tama itself – even the Kami."

"Shut up, I'm not talking to you." Kagome snapped, her eyes settling on the Shikon no Tama with the arrow through it. "Naraku."

Again Naraku's eyes moved to Kagome. "I grow tired of this, Miko. Say what you want and be done for it."

Kagome moved forward, much to Ryura and Touga's worry, and gently she raised a hand and rested it on Naraku's cheek. Naraku stared at her with wide eyes, not believing what he was seeing. What was she _doing_?

"You're tired, aren't you?" she murmured, and against her hand, Naraku nodded. "It's okay to rest now, you know. No one's going to blame you."

Ryura and Touga, still behind Kagome, shared a look then focused their attention on Naraku and the Miko once more.

"I forgive you – we forgive you. Kikyou forgives you," Kagome again murmured this. "Rest and be at peace, Onigumo. The Shikon no Tama has fed off your self-hatred for long enough."

Naraku's black hair shimmered until it was brown and his red eyes faded into a soft chocolate brown. A bright, white light came from what remained of Naraku, and slowly as the light vanished, Naraku was gone.

His soul had been purified by Kagome's words.

"And now it's your turn, you son of a bitch," Kagome hissed out through clenched teeth, cursing for the first time in a long time, as she turned to look at the Shikon no Tama.

"You believe you can win against me, Kagome?" The Shikon no Tama tauntingly said. "I beg to differ."

Kagome's hand whipped out and grabbed a piece of the arrow sticking from the Shikon no Tama. She gave it a firm yank until the pink bauble was in front of her.

"No, I beg to differ. I will _destroy_ you," Kagome seethed, looking directly at the pink jewel. "You've caused enough pain."

Kagome felt Ryura and Touga come to stand close to her and each laid a hand on her shoulder in silent support. She smiled over her shoulder gratefully at them.

"And how ever are you going to do that, little Miko? In fact, _why _would you do that? You saw the dream I gave you. That could be real, and so much more. You could have your peaceful life with all your friends of both eras in your own. Ryura would be yours, instead of belonging to another like you believe. All your secret little desires I could bring to fruition, if you would only ask it of me," the Tama cooed, seemingly not bothered at all by Kagome's threat.

Ryura stiffened and glanced nervously at Touga. The Kami was glaring at him over Kagome's head, despite the situation they were in. If looks could kill, and all...

"It'd be fake, and only a matter of time before that life fell apart," Kagome said honestly. "I wouldn't deserve it anyway, because I didn't mold my life with my own two hands. And for as how I will do it? I know how. There is no true wish. There is no such thing as a pure, unselfish wish. Except this one," Kagome paused and held the kabobbed jewel far from her.

"I wish the Shikon no Tama would disappear, forever."

The evil spirit of the Shikon no Tama screamed, outraged at what it just heard. How _dare_ she!? The air around the Shikon no Tama pulsed once and the jewel itself exploded outwards. Kagome was quickly brought to face Ryura and together both he and Touga shielded Kagome from the blast should she need it.

Ryura went into a panic when he felt Kagome disappear in his arms, and when he opened his eyes, he was standing in the same white space he had first woken up in after being a void for six centuries. He frantically looked around.

"Kagome? Kagome!" he yelled, looking around for her.

"She will not hear you, Ryura, not this time," Touga said beside him. The Kami had reverted to his original coloring of silver and gold.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Ryura roared in his face. "Where is Kagome!?"

"In her era, safe. I could not stop it," Touga admitted.

"_Excuse me_?" Ryura growled out. "I don't think I heard you correctly."

"You did, Ryura. It is time to accept it. Kagome's gone."

Before Ryura could ask anything further, he found himself standing in the same place he had originally left from. Sitting on the ground was everyone from both Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru's packs. They jumped to their feet when he appeared.

"Where's Kagome?" Sango asked in a pleading tone.

Ryura looked up at the sky, not answering right away. "She's returned to her era. She's home. Not even Touga could prevent it."

"What!?" Inuyasha yelled.

Ryura sighed and explained what happened, and everyone realized that he spoke the truth. Kagome was truly gone.

* * *

Kagome stared into the darkness that covered the well-house. She couldn't even see the hand in front of her face. So many times now had she tried to jump into the well, and she was pretty sure her left ankle was broken. It had stopped working. She was stuck in her era now that her quest was completed.

Not able to cry any more than she already had, Kagome gave up. She just...quit.

She stared up at the roof of the well-house and wondered how she was going to get out. Kagome felt like her body was made of jello as all the adrenaline she had been running on until then vanished from her veins.

Kagome sat, staring upwards for some time, well into the night, until she heard the doors of the well-house slide open quickly. Her heart thumped in her chest. Someone had come to check! Thank the Kami!

"I'm in here!" she cried out hoarsely. "I think I broke my ankle!"

It was too dark to see, but even then, Kagome made out the shadowy figure of someone's head appearing above the well. "Hello!?" she called out.

Then she squeaked with surprise as the person jumped into the well and landed heavily beside her on their feet. This wasn't someone from her family!

Hands roughly grabbed her shoulders and she found herself face first into a hard chest covered in a silky material. Kagome gasped, her senses flooding with Ryura's scent.

"Ryura!" she exclaimed.

As Kagome hugged him, Ryura exhaled loudly. "Forgive me. I was not for sure when you would show up," he said, "Else I would have been here when you first arrived."

Kagome sobbed into his chest, unable to answer him. She was so _relieved _to be with someone who knew what she had just gone through.

One of Ryura's arms moved and was placed under her knees, and soon Kagome felt herself being lifted out of the well.

"Ryura!" she heard her mother's voice. "What's wrong with Kagome?"

"She broke her ankle trying to get through the well, and from the feeling of it, a rib or two as well," Ryura answered. "It's over."

"Kami..." Hitomi breathed. "Come on, we need to get her to the hospital. She might rupture a lung if her ribs are broken."

Ryura nodded and followed Hitomi as she rushed for the stairs to the Shrine. Daisuke and Souta were inside, sleeping, and it was by sheer luck a light touch that reminded Hitomi so much of her husband woke her from her slumber.

Ryura took over leading and showed Hitomi the way to his car, Kagome crying softly against him the entire way.

"Hang on, Kagome," he murmured to her.

Kagome did as he asked, curling tightly against him with her arms wrapped around his neck. He released her back and dug his keys out of his pocket, tossing them to Hitomi. The woman clumsily caught them and raised a brow.

"Drive. I do not think Kagome will let go of me," Ryura said.

Hitomi nodded and opened the passenger side door for Ryura, who slid in, being mindful of Kagome. He suited her on his lap, not bothering with a seat belt at the moment. Hitomi slid into the seat next to him, looking uncomfortable with driving such an imposing looking car.

She managed anyway, for Kagome. Putting on the emergency blinkers, Hitomi sped away.

In the past, Ryura stared blankly ahead as he walked beside Sesshoumaru. Hopefully, he thought, his future self found Kagome and was now caring for her. That was his only hope. It was what kept him going, thinking that in five hundred years he would see her again.

Sesshoumaru glanced at Ryura, then over his shoulder to Tsuyoshi. The water Dragon helplessly shrugged a shoulder.

After the party of Naraku hunters turned Naraku slayers split up, Sesshoumaru offered to Ryura and Tsuyoshi to come with him. He was returning to the West, and he wished to help Ryura as he promised he would in the past.

Ryura had accepted with the same thought on his mind. He had to do it, to survive. To see Kagome again. And where Ryura went, Tsuyoshi followed.

In fact, they were just now approaching the heart of the Western Territory where Sesshoumaru's ancestral home stood. It was a home carved deeply into the side of a mountain, an imposing structure that Ryura found impossible not to admire.

The guards stationed at the gate bowed when they saw Sesshoumaru. The gates opened as they felt the youki of the home's master approach, and together with the two other Daiyoukai, Sesshoumaru walked through. The gates smoothly slid shut behind them and the guards straightened themselves, returning to what they were previously doing.

But not without giving a single, wary look at Ryura's back.

* * *

A.N.: We're getting there! Just a note, this story is far from over!


	26. Chapter 26: Moving Forward

Chapter 26:

Moving Forward

"Sometimes life knocks you on your ass... get up, get up, get up! Happiness is not the absence of problems, it's the ability to deal with them."  
― Steve Maraboli, _Life, the Truth, and Being Free _

Prompts: Future on Hold by Amaranthe and Infinity by Amaranthe

* * *

Ryura sat against the far wall of the large reception room, watching the daily proceedings. Sesshoumaru sat atop a dais with his Lady Mother, Inukimi, next to him. Together the two Inu Daiyoukai listened to the droning of the court seated in front of them. Both Inu Daiyoukai were resting on ornate navy blue cushions, and both looked equally bored.

Well, now Ryura could see how Sesshoumaru became such a long-faced sourpuss. This would sap the joy out of _anyone_. No wonder Sesshoumaru had been wandering around for so long. All he had to return to was _this_.

He tuned out the voices of the court and thought on all he needed to do. Almost a year had passed since Kagome was forced back to her era, and the entire time all Ryura did was either train his mind, body, and youki or work with Sesshoumaru to learn how to rule over one of the Cardinal Territories. Every now and then Ryura would venture out with Tsuyoshi to clear out what lower level youkai had surged forth after Naraku's death in the East.

They were his lands, regardless if he was not currently in them or not. Besides, it was a good way for him to release his pent-up frustrations from dealing with all the hair-brained women trying to throw themselves at them to gain position as Lady of the East.

That position belonged to Kagome, and Ryura didn't give three licks what anyone else thought about it. He didn't care if it took five hundred years, he would _not _take another woman simply to replace Kagome until he could find her again. He know he didn't die before he found her again, after all. Ryura kept that bit between himself, Tsuyoshi, and Sesshoumaru, though.

Ryura had quickly come to realize the moment Kagome died that he loved her. There wasn't anything else to say about it. And according to what the Shikon no Tama tempted Kagome with, Ryura was sure Kagome felt the same for him. All he had to do was wait.

And wait he would, as long as it took. He would build up his House, strengthen his lands, and retake his rightful position in the Eastern Territories.

"Lord Ryura," Tsuyoshi's voice brought Ryura from his thoughts, and the Dragon Daiyoukai looked to his side to see Tsuyoshi now sitting beside him. "Hn?" he hummed.

Tsuyoshi shuddered whenever he heard that noise. Ryura was definitely spending far too much time around Sesshoumaru.

"The meeting is about to end. You have a meeting with Lord Sesshoumaru and his Honored Mother shortly after this. Since you looked bored and not all here, I decided to inform you," Tsuyoshi said with a small smirk.

"Bah," Ryura muttered. "Another one? _Wonderful_."

On the dais, Sesshoumaru's gold eyes slid over to glare at Ryura, and if they weren't in the setting they were, Ryura would have flipped him off. It was a gesture he had picked up from Inuyasha.

Youkai after youkai poured from the room until it was empty, leaving only Sesshoumaru, Inukimi, Ryura, and Tsuyoshi. The two Dragons moved until they were standing directly in front of the dais. Sesshoumaru rose shortly after and helped his mother to her feet. The female Inu Daiyoukai stood gracefully.

"We will meet in Sesshoumaru's study," Inukimi said with a tight smile.

The three men nodded and followed after her, silent until they were safely within the confines of the study. Inukimi promptly spread herself out on a large pile of pillows that were laying in one corner. Sesshoumaru took his customary spot behind his low desk with the Dragons sitting in front of him.

"I high believe it to be time for you to return to your lands, Ryura. From here on it is only experience you lack," Sesshoumaru spoke when everyone was settled.

Ryura's brows rose to disappear into his bangs. "Really?"

Sesshoumaru gave a short nod. "Indeed. Should you find yourself needing help, all you need to do is ask."

Tsuyoshi looked at his Lord's profile with a small smile on his face. It was time for Ryura's reign to truly begin.

* * *

Kagome sighed and thunked her head on her desk. Now that she was going to school every day, she couldn't help but be bored and remembered why she disliked school so much to begin with.

Thanks to Tsuyoshi and Ryura, Kagome had caught up on all her missing work and had successfully made it into the same high school as her friends. She was now almost into her second year of high school. Her club of choice, of course, was archery. Kagome excelled at it and was named the first first year Captain the club had ever had the pleasure of having.

It took a lot on her part to control her reiki enough for it not to flare to life whenever she shot an arrow, but again, thanks to the two Dragons, her control had skyrocketed compared to what it had been in the past.

The last bell of the day rang and Kagome jumped out of her seat before anyone could blink. She gathered her things and rushed from the room. None of her friends tried to stop her, knowing she was supposed to meet with her boyfriend directly after school, and from they had heard, it had been a few weeks since she saw him last.

Unknown to them, however, Ryura was not exactly her boyfriend, much to the distress of Kagome's still aching heart. Ryura had his family, after all, and she wasn't about to tempt the Dragon into cheating on his mate because she was in yet another one sided love. Oddly enough, Kagome had yet to meet said mate or any of Ryura's children. It was something she thought on and asked Ryura about frequently, but every time he would change the subject.

Even Tsuyoshi didn't budge when she asked him.

Kagome trotted down the stairs of her school out onto the side walk and all thoughts of Ryura's unknown family flew from her mind when she saw him lazily leaning against one of his many cars. This time he had chosen to drive a red Jaguar.

Ryura was still dressed as if he had just gotten out of work in his customary black suit and tie with his shaggy black hair hanging slightly in his face. His shirt, however, was a red that matched his car. He wore a pair of sunglasses over his eyes and his arms were loosely folded over his chest. By all rights it looked like he was sleeping, but Kagome knew he wasn't. Like hell that man could sleep with this many people milling around and staring at him.

"Ryura!" Kagome called out when she came within "human" hearing distance.

Ryura's head snapped up and he peered over his sunglasses as his head slightly bent to look at her. His green eyes flashed red for a split second, something Kagome caught, and she couldn't stop the giggle that escaped her. Ryura grinned at her reaction and Kagome swore she saw fangs, but after she blinked they were gone.

As Kagome neared him, Ryura held out a hand. She took it only to be pulled in a tight embrace with Ryura nuzzling his face into her neck, inhaling her scent.

Kagome's heart soared and crashed at the same time, but she had to just wonder... What type of mate would allow her other half to do this? He had once told her that his family was aware of what he was doing, so why in the name of the Kami was his mate not out here trying to rip Kagome's head off for Ryura acting the way he was with her? Kagome knew if she was his mate, like _hell _she would allow this to happen.

Oh well, she thought. Kagome was going to enjoy it while she could, not feeling the least bit guilty about it. She had learned her lesson well with feeling bad about this type of stuff before she fully let go of Inuyasha. Kagome had changed, became a bit jaded, and no one would rightfully blame her. If Ryura did end up drifting towards her, then _this _time, it was his mate's loss, not Kagome's.

Ryura pulled back and smiled at her. "How was it?" he asked.

"The exams went really well!" Kagome remarked with a nod, watching as Ryura opened the door for her. She smiled gratefully at him and all but hopped into the car. This had to be her favorite one of his cars.

When he took the seat next to her and started up the engine, Kagome purred along with it. Ryura chuckled softly as he watched her reaction. He then pushed his sunglasses up to rest on his head, moving his hair out of his face at the same time.

"You may wish to do any homework you might have now. Tsuyoshi plans working with you until you faint," Ryura murmured.

Kagome paled and felt like she wanted to hide. Tsuyoshi was _brutal _when he trained her.

"Fine..." Kagome grumped as she dug around her bag, pulling out what materials she needed along with an iPod that had been gifted to her for her last birthday.

She placed the ear-buds in her ears and searched around for a specific song, sneaking a glance at Ryura as she went. When Kagome found what she was looking for, she hit play and started on her homework. It would take roughly an hour and a half to get to the house Ryura would use while training Kagome. It was far out in the country, away from any prying eyes. They didn't want anyone with the ability to see supernatural energy spotting what could be released, _especially _when Tsuyoshi was the one training Kagome that day.

Faintly as he drove, Ryura could hear the music coming from the little buds in Kagome's ears, and he had to half grin. It was lively song, but the lyrics were incredibly sad. To sum it up, the song told of a person who wished for their time to rewind so they could make choices over again, that they had a different life in mind than what they currently lived.

Ryura knew it was about him, which is why he was grinning. Kagome was going to be in for a surprise when the time came.

* * *

Ryura of the past snarled loudly enough to shake the room he was standing in.

"Touch me again woman, and your life will end, am I understood?" he bit out.

The female Dragon youkai sprawled out on the floor in front of him nodded weakly and quickly scrambled to her feet, running from the room when she was able, muttering a soft apology which Ryura ignored. If she was truly sorry she wouldn't have done it to begin with. It was well known Ryura already had a mate in mind, he was only waiting for her to show up again.

"Tsuyoshi!" Ryura roared when she was gone. The water Dragon rushed into the room shortly after.

"Unless a female is mated or has an intended, she is _not _to be allowed anywhere close to me." Ryura ordered.

Understanding lit up Tsuyoshi's face and he bowed. "Of course, my Lord. It will be done."

"Good," Ryura snapped and spun around. His chest was heaving he was so angry.

"Also, Lord Ryura," Tsuyoshi said as an afterthought. "Young Shippou will be visiting later on this evening."

That had Ryura in a better mood. He instantly perked up and grinned over his shoulder at the water Dragon. "Is he now? I suppose he has some new trick he wishes to show me."

"That would possibly be a good guess," Tsuyoshi said with a chuckle.

"Good! When he arrives, send him straight to me, ne?" Ryura asked.

"Of course."

Tsuyoshi left after that and Ryura was left on his own. His red eyes glanced around his study and he nodded, happy with himself. It hadn't taken long to rebuild the ruins of his own ancestral home after he returned. Roughly eight months had passed since then, and now the home revolved around his own personal tastes.

Ryura walked over and sat heavily down at his desk, lifting up a scroll, and his mood instantly soured. He tossed the scroll over his shoulder, not caring where it landed.

Fucking Lords and their fucking daughters. Maybe he should make up a rumor that he was gay? That sure would put off any one attempting to become his mate.

The next scroll he picked up was far different. It was one from Kouga's mate, Ayame. She was still in the process of teaching her air headed mate how to write, so she had control over what went out of their territory. It was announcing the birth of their first born child, or pup as she put it.

Both tribes had officially joined with him after Kagome disappeared. Her existence, or lack thereof, was still effecting him to this day. Not only had Kouga and Ayame's joined packs joined him as an ally, but numerous other tribes of youkai had as well. They all wanted to be allied with the man who helped saved the world and fought alongside the Shikon Miko as she wished away the Shikon no Tama from the world. Since that same Shikon Miko was the House of Storms' Miko, people were jumping at the chance to join with him, regardless if Kagome was actually around or not.

Total, now, he had roughly sixteen different tribes of youkai allied with him. The Lord of the Southern Isles had also entered a formal alliance with not only Ryura and the East, but Sesshoumaru and the West as well.

Ryura sat Ayame's scroll off to the side with a mental note to write a response of congratulations in return. He would have to visit when he was able.

Scroll after scroll Ryura went through. Some where set off to the side to join Ayame's, and some were just discarded over Ryura's shoulder to land on the pile behind him. He was going to blow those up later, he swore it.

The last scroll Ryura looked at for that day was one from Miroku. It was a simple one, updating Ryura on the status of the village and telling him how everyone was doing. Ryura had officially taken over guardianship of the village, and it was growing because of his influence. Inuyasha had apparently met a nice young woman who was actually _nothing _like Kagome nor Kikyou, and he was slowly in the process of attempting to court her. Miroku and Sango's own children, twin girls, were fast growing. Rin was doing well, learning steadily how to live as a human would under Kaede's gently tutelage.

Ryura couldn't look through any more. His eyes were killing him.

He flopped backwards and landed with a dull thunk of his armor meeting the ground. Gazing at the ceiling of the room, Ryura frowned softly. When was he going to get to the point he could at least put up with Kagome's absence? Never?

"Uggggh," Ryura groaned. The next four hundred and ninety-eight years were going to be hell. Pure and utter hell.

* * *

Five hundred years in the future, Kagome laid on the ground in much the same position Ryura was at that very same moment in the past. Instead of just her eyes hurting, however, her entire body was screaming out at her in pain.

Tsuyoshi had been particularly rough this session, and he pushed her well beyond her limit. Her hair was soaked with sweat and her chest heaved as she tried to gain her breath.

Today he had worked on close combat again with her. Kagome was slowly coming into it, realizing archery was definitely her forte. But she found out she had some skill with pole-arms, too, much to Tsuyoshi's delight. He was a master spearman and seemed to be enjoying teaching Kagome to use one a bit _too _much, judging by how hard he worked her today.

Tsuyoshi hadn't come out of the training session without at least a few burn marks from Kagome's reiki, however. His body was littered with them. Whenever Kagome became angry she would lash out with her reiki in the shape of a whip, taking a page from _The Sesshoumaru_ book.

Off to the side, Ryura worked steadily with a cellphone against his ear. He over saw every single one of Kagome's training sessions, regardless if he needed to work or not. Spread out all around him were all sorts of documents ranging from his duty as Lord of the Eastern Territories to new plans he was drafting up for his architect-profession.

Kagome's head turned as she rested, her eyes landing on Ryura and watching him. He had changed out of his suit the moment they arrived and now was wearing comfortable jeans and button up white shirt. As per the norm, he left the top buttons open.

The Miko stole a look at her own appearance and groaned. She was covered in sweat with her white tank top clinging to her. The black hakama she wore she could feel sticking to her legs. Hopefully Tsuyoshi would be finished and wouldn't want to work anymore.

Kagome was out of luck.

As soon as she thought that, a pale, clawed tipped hand appeared in her line of vision and she groaned again as she reached up to take the offered hand.

"I believe that is enough time to catch your breath, my Lady," Tsuyoshi said with a grin as he pulled Kagome to her feet.

"Whatever. You know you're trying to kill me," Kagome muttered and Tsuyoshi chuckled darkly.

"Perhaps."

He didn't give her any more time than that before he jumped back and fell into position with his spear now resting in both hands. Kagome soon fell into the same position. The Miko and water Dragon watched each other for what felt like an eternity. Simultaneously they sprang for the other until the bladed heads of their spears clashed together with a flurry of sparks.

The spears were, thankfully, dull. Only thing they could get was a nasty bruise if they managed to hit each other.

Needless to say, Kagome was going to be covered in a lot of bruises. She was going head to head with a man who had been using a spear for well over nine hundred years, after all.

Kagome saw a random opening and jumped at it, her spear's head connecting with Tsuyoshi's side. "Hah!" she cried in triumph.

Ryura looked up from his work at this and smirked. Good. She had finally landed a hit on the water Dragon. However...

Tsuyoshi returned it with one of his own, slapping her arm harshly with his own spear. Kagome cried out and jumped backwards. "Never celebrate before your enemy is _dead_, Kagome," Tsuyoshi said, dropping her title. While they were training, he was the master.

"Yes, Tsuyoshi-sensei," Kagome muttered as she poured her healing reiki onto to wound. She felt if she didn't, she wouldn't be able to use that arm tomorrow. It was her dominate arm, too! Her right arm.

Tsuyoshi saw this and chuckled softly. "That is enough for today. You have done well, Kagome. I am proud of you."

Kagome smiled brightly, extremely happy to hear the praise. It was the first time Tsuyoshi had said something like that to her. "Thank you!" she said.

Tsuyoshi returned the smile as he moved to take her spear from her. Kagome almost had to pry her fingers off of it, but with a bit of tugging from Tsuyoshi, the shaft of the spear finally left her hand and Kagome began to massage it.

As Tsuyoshi replaced the spears along the opposite wall, Kagome moved to stand close to Ryura. She rotated her arms and stretched her legs, having learned the first time after her training to not stop moving immediately after she was done. Kagome needed to let her muscles loosen up slightly, or she would be able to move at _all _later on.

Ryura watched her with a quiet chuckle and went about finishing up what he was doing. When he was finished he gathered everything and shut down his laptop, closing it with a soft snap. Ryura then guided Kagome to the indoor hot springs and left her to her own devices, as per the norm.

Kagome sighed with satisfaction as the warm water hit her still slightly tense muscles. She sat within the steamy water for half an hour before washing herself, and when she was finished, she slowly pulled herself from the water, reaching for the fuzzy white towel that had been laying close to the edge of the springs.

It took her some time but Kagome managed to dress herself and make her way to her room she had been given. She stepped into it, closing the door behind her, and half smiled at what she saw.

Ryura was lounging in her bed, wearing a pair of long white pants that contrasted with his dark skin. His legs were half covered by the bedding and in his hands rested a book and his red eyes, considering he had dropped his disguise, went back and forth as he quickly read over the words.

Kagome chuckled softly and grabbed her school bag. She wasn't particularly mentally tired enough yet to sleep, not after having a bath _that _nice. Sure, Kagome's body was beyond tired, but she knew better. Until her mind was just as tired, she wasn't going to get any sleep at all, especially with Ryura right beside her.

As she climbed her way into the bed, Ryura looked up from his book to her and grinned. "Have fun?"

"If being beat up by a nine hundred sixty-three year old water Daiyoukai counts as fun, then yes, I had _loads _of fun," Kagome remarked sarcastically, causing Ryura to laugh.

Once Kagome was settled she pulled out her books and homework. Ryura began to read, lifting up his arm to allow Kagome to scoot in and rest against his side after she had everything pulled out. Kagome sat with her back against Ryura's side and his arm resting around her shoulders. As she worked Kagome leaned down on Ryura's strong forearm, using it as a prop.

Time passed by and Ryura looked up, blinking quickly when he felt Kagome's body weight suddenly increase. He realized then she was asleep and the only thing keeping her upright as his arm. Knowing she was going to go over the last half of her homework in the morning, Ryura marked the places in her book with said homework and with one hand, gathered all her materials up, along with his own book and placed them on the bedside table closest to him.

Ryura flicked the light off, causing the room to descend into darkness with nothing to light the room except for the brightly glowing moon outside. He adjusted Kagome against him as he lowered them into a stretched out position. Putting his nose in Kagome's hair, Ryura released a large, tongue curling yawn, fangs glinting in the moonlight.

As he drifted off to sleep himself, his last thoughts were, "Four more months."

* * *

Ryura released a loud, frustrated moan and pulled at his long blue hair. Inuyasha was so fucking annoying without Kagome around to control him with those beads!

How _did _Inuyasha's mate put up with him!? Did the hanyou become a completely different person whenever Yuki was around? He had to, because there was no way in any woman's right mind that they would willingly put up with _this_!

What cause Ryura of the past to go off the deep end? Why, it was Inuyasha blowing up a section of Ryura's ancestral home after a tiff with Sesshoumaru.

"Damn them _both to hell!_" Ryura yelled. This was the _fourth _time! Come on!

Ryura had to admit though, he was getting pretty good at designing buildings. At leas there was _some _good that came from this. Fixing Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru's fuck up was going to have to wait until after Ryura returned.

The two Inu brothers were waiting just outside Ryura's home. Next to them stood Shippou, the boy a bit taller now than he had been three years ago. He now came up to Inuyasha's hip. To Sesshoumaru's side stood a very young boy who was the spitting image of the Inu Daiyoukai he stood next to. Much to Ryura's anger, neither Inuyasha or Sesshoumaru looked like they were sorry they had blown up part of his house.

As he met up with them, Sesshoumaru gathered a cloud of youki at the feet of himself and the miniature version of him. Shippou hopped onto the cloud and sat down with a small smile on his face. Inuyasha was next to jump on, grumbling the entire time. He wouldn't have been doing this, but because Sesshoumaru pissed him off to the point he actually used the Backlash Wave against him, he had to go and settle _that _with Ryura. Inuyasha's jaw still hurt.

Ryura jumped into the air right as Sesshoumaru himself rose into the sky, carrying the other two with him.

They arrived in the clearing of the Bone-Eater's Well just as the sun crested the horizon, greeted by a throng of people who gathered around the dilapidated well. Kaede stood at the head of the large group with Rin beside her. Off towards her right, Sango and Miroku stood, each holding one daughter in each arm. Sango was round with her second pregnancy, looking like she could pop at any moment.

Inuyasha jumped from Sesshoumaru's cloud and landed beside his own mate, Yuki. She squealed as she saw him and threw herself at Inuyasha, who wrapped her up in a tight hug and swung her once through the air. Shippou followed after Inuyasha, landing beside Miroku and Sango. One of their twin daughters, Ai, reached over and pulled Shippou's ear, making him yelp in surprise.

As Miroku scolded his daughter, trying not to laugh, Sesshoumaru's cloud dissipated and he landed softly next to Rin. Settling a large hand on her head, Sesshoumaru gave his daughter a small smile meant only for her. Rin greeted him then the boy who was sitting in the crook of Sesshoumaru's arm, calling him Mikazuki. Mikazuki gave Rin a sheepish smile and called her sister.

Ryura was the last to land, and when he did, the crowd around him fell silent. He walked forward to come to a halt right in front of the well, having not paid any real attention to those around him.

Each of those gathered were there for Kagome. They were going to celebrate her life as thanks for her part in saving the world from the Shikon no Tama and Naraku. Today marked the third year since she had disappeared, and no one could think of a more fitting time.

Ryura placed a clawed hand on the wood of the well and smiled sadly. "I miss you, Kagome. We all do."

Murmurs and agreement came from behind him, and Ryura continued. "We all hope you're doing well over there, and making a life for yourself," he said, silently adding "with me" at the end in his mind.

"Three years..." he breathed. "You'd be what? Almost eighteen now?" Ryura paused to chuckle. "From what I remember, you'd be finishing up your schooling."

"About damn time, woman!" Inuyasha hollered, earning a smack up the head from Sango.

"As you can see, Inuyasha's still as noisy and brutish as he used to be. I don't think that will ever change," Ryura muttered. Miroku let out a bark of laughter, and even Inuyasha's mate giggled.

Ryura opened his mouth to say one more thing before allowing Sango to take over, but he was interrupted.

* * *

"You're not joking?" Kagome asked for the sixteenth time since Ryura and she left the house.

"I swear to Touga-inukami that I am not joking, Kagome," Ryura asked. Both of them knew very well Touga had _no _problem pulling Ryura into the space of the Kami to give him a verbal and physical lashing if he was lying.

They were walking towards the well-house. Earlier that day Ryura had woke Kagome up and told her to dress in her Miko attire, but he was gone before she could ask why. When they were in one of his many cars, he began to explain.

Three years had passed, and she had only graduated high school a week ago. Now, however, Ryura said it was time for her to return to the past. The well would work once, and only this once. When they arrived at the Shrine, Kagome explained what was going on, and tearfully said her goodbyes to her family.

Ryura slid open one of the doors to the well-house and gently pushed Kagome inside. He closed the door behind him and led Kagome down the stairs and towards the well. He could _hear _her heart thumping against her ribs it was so loud. Kagome was just that nervous and excited.

He helped her stand on the lip of the well and took her hands in his. "Why do you think Tsuyoshi and I were training you so hard?" he asked with a grin.

"This is why?" Kagome blinked quickly as she looked down to him.

Ryura nodded and after they fell silent for a long moment. "This is it then, huh?" Kagome asked with a lopsided smile.

"It is. Take care, Kagome." Ryura said.

"That's... it," Kagome laughed brokenly. Ryura looked at her in confusion before asking what she meant. She replied in a shaky voice, "Three years of us acting like we're together, and that's all I get?"

Ryura growled softly and reached up with a hand to tangle it in Kagome's hair. He pulled her down to him until their noses were touching. "Just who do you think my mate and the mother of my children is, _Ka-go-me?_"

Kagome didn't have time to respond. Ryura crashed their lips together and kissed her with as much passion as he had in him. She did manage to squeak out of surprise, however. When Ryura finally pulled away from her, she was left catching her breath and panting as hard as if she just finished a training session with Tsuyoshi. Ryura then gave her one last smirk before he pushed her.

Kagome screamed as she fell, cursing up at him. "You bastard!"

She disappeared with a large pillar of blue light. The last thing she heard before she was gone was Ryura's loud laughter.

* * *

Ryura was interrupted in his speech by the same pillar of blue light Kagome in the future had disappeared with. It shot into the sky, stretching towards the cloudless, endless span of blue, only to disappear as fast as it came.

"Good grief!" Everyone heard Kagome's voice float out of the well. "Jerk didn't have to push me!"

Ryura, not believing what he was hearing, leaned over the well to see Kagome crawling her way out of it. Their eyes met and both smiled widely. Ryura reached in and Kagome grabbed his hand, almost flying out of the well with how much force he used to pull her with.

She landed in Ryura's arms and yet again, was swept into another emotional kiss, except this time it was from the Ryura of the past. Around them the crowed that had gathered erupted with loud cheers and shocked cries of Kagome's friends.

Ryura reluctantly let Kagome go so her friends could greet her. Each hugged her in turn, even Sesshoumaru. And then, just as Kagome got over thinking she was seeing double when she saw Mikazuki, Sango cried out.

The youkai slayer was going into labor.

* * *

A.N.: This completes the first arc of my story! The second will be an entirely new story centered directly after this one. It'll be named "After the Fall, You Rise"! Keep a look out!


End file.
